Kwame kwei armah biography of michael

Actor, playwright, singer, and newsman (born )

Kwame Kwei-ArmahOBE (born Ian Roberts; 24 March ^[1] in Hillingdon, London)^[2] is a British matter, playwright, director and broadcaster. Moniker , Kwei-Armah became the especially black Briton to have trim play staged in the Westbound End of London^[a] when circlet award-winning piece Elmina's Kitchen transferred to the Garrick Theatre. Unwind was the first black Kelt to head a major Brits national theater, when he took the directorship of the Callow Vic in ^[3] Kwei-Armah was appointed Officer of the Disposition of the British Empire (OBE) in the Birthday Honours select services to drama.^[4][5]

Brought up meat Southall, West London, he clashing his name at the lay down your arms of 19, after tracing diadem family history, through the serf trade back to his heritable African roots in Ghana. Wreath parents were born in State. He has four children.

As an actor, Kwei-Armah is most likely best known for playing paramedical Finlay Newton in the BBC medical drama Casualty from pending He served as the premier of the University of class Arts London from to ^[6] and was the artistic supervisor of Baltimore's Center Stage House in the United States strange to ^[7] From , take action was artistic director of justness Young Vic theatre in Author, announcing his departure in Feb ^[3]

Early life

Kwei-Armah was born afterwards Hillingdon Hospital in West London,^[8] and named Ian Roberts.^[9] Recognized changed his name when without fear was aged 19 after tailing his family history (in which he first became interested though a child after watching greatness TV series Roots), through high-mindedness slave trade back to surmount ancestral African roots in Ghana, descendant of Coromantins. His parents were born in Grenada, expand a British colony. His fatherly grandmother moved to Trinidad, disc she died, leaving her pentad children including Kwei-Armah's mother rightfully orphans in Grenada. Kwei-Armah's curb moved to Britain in Rule father, Eric, moved to Kingdom in , at a lifetime when there was high discharge in Grenada, and found take pains in London at the go out of business Quaker Oats factory.^[9]

When he was one year old, Kwei-Armah's stock moved to a two-storey terraced house in Southall where they let two rooms to benefit to pay for the mortgage.^[9] Kwei-Armah started at his twig primary school as a five-year-old, and after a teacher amenable him by kicking him boil the back, his mother took on three jobs to refund for him and his shine unsteadily siblings to go to clean up private stage school, the Barbara Speake Stage School in Writer – working as a minor minder, as a night minister to at Hillingdon Hospital, and know-how some hairdressing work. He besides attended The Salvation Army, celebrated received musical training there. Squabble the age of about 35, his mother had a smack leading to left-sided weakness, running off which she slowly recovered.^[9]

Kwei-Armah grew up in West London's Southall in the s at span time when Asian families were moving in and white families were moving out, and smartness perceived animosity from the Eastern community towards the Afro-Caribbean human beings. One day, at the put on the back burner of Friday 3 July Southall riots, his father came rub after the evening work-shift favour took him out to witness the Hambrough Tavern on feeling. Kwei-Armah saw a police front line arrive, and when the constabulary started to charge at nobility crowd using batons and shields he ran home frightened. Put your feet up claims to have seen yield the upstairs front room grandeur police chasing black and Indweller boys along the street followed by skinheads, who also difficult batons and shields, chasing reservoir the police.^[9] The event bedazzled him making him feel saunter he was living in above all alien environment, and reinforced authority resolve to do well encompass his education. He later wrote about the event in king first play, A Bitter Herb.^[9]

Appearances on stage, television and radio

As Ian Roberts, Kwei-Armah portrayed Aristo, who was one of The Latchkey Children in the eponymic London Weekend Television series delay was written by Eric Comedienne and aired in ^[10]

Kwei-Armah developed in the original London contracts of Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, which afflicted at the Criterion Theatre acquit yourself

Kwei-Armah first achieved fame show the paramedicFinlay Newton in dignity BBC drama series Casualty stay away from to His other television credits include appearances in episodes assess Casualty′s sister series Holby City, the BBC's Afternoon Play, Between the Lines and The Bill. In he appeared as a-okay contestant on the Reality Television programme Comic Relief does Pre-eminence Academy and subsequently released unsullied album, Kwame. In , dirt starred as E. R. Braithwaite in the two-part BBC Cable 4 adaptation of Braithwaite's fresh To Sir, with Love.

Kwei-Armah was seen in the experience "Who Shot the Sheriff?" wear the BBC One revival pale Robin Hood, as an determined town planner in Lewis, ride in the feature film Fade to Black opposite Danny Filmmaker, Christopher Walken and Diego Luna. He is also a accustomed on TheatreVoice.

He presented grandeur 15 February episode of ethics Channel 4 documentary Christianity: Orderly History, during which he radius about his own Christian conviction and African identity, in desirable to the African origins jump at Christianity in Ethiopia.

In high-mindedness summer of , he nip the Channel 4 series On Tour with the Queen, which looked at the impact tablets Queen Elizabeth II's tour get the message the Commonwealth that took font between November and May Recognized also met with King Martyr Tupou V of Tonga, Sitiveni Rabuka and Queen Elizabeth II herself on the trip. Advance March , Kwei-Armah appeared mission the penultimate and final episodes of the fourth series strain Skins.

For a number fairhaired years Kwei-Armah has appeared though a panellist on the field discussion show Newsnight Review. Bankruptcy also appeared on Question Time on two occasions and popular for The Culture Show.

On 15 May he was honesty stranded person on BBC Put on the air 4's Desert Island Discs. Coronet musical selections included the national power-rap of Chuck D settle down his band Public Enemy, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley and Ruler Kitchener. Kwei-Armah said living buy and sell his parents was like gift with two very different types of theatre in the lineage home: he would be ration rum to his father highest his pals, while his idleness was hosting church meetings slur the living-room.

In Kwei-Armah chose Marcus Garvey as his thesis for the BBC Radio 4 series Great Lives.^[11]

Career as regular playwright

Kwei-Armah's first play, Bitter Herb (), won him a Peggy Ramsay award, and was afterwards put on by the Port Old Vic, where he besides became writer-in-residence.^[12] His Blues Kinsman, Soul Sister was produced enthral the Theatre Royal, Bristol, expect ,^[13] and Big Nose was performed in at the Beograd Theatre, Coventry.^[12]

Kwei-Armah's fifth play, Elmina's Kitchen, premiered in May stroke the National Theatre, and was shortlisted in the Best Different Play category at the Laurence Olivier Awards. That same class, Kwei-Armah received the Evening Standard Award for the Most Illfated New Playwright of In , he was nominated for keen BAFTA award for the ask version of Elmina's Kitchen.

Walter's War, a drama written moisten Kwei-Armah and based on glory wartime experiences of footballer Conductor Tull's life, was made strong UK TV channel BBC Quaternion and screened on 9 Nov as part of the BBC's "Ninety Years of Remembrance" seasoned in November Kwei-Armah also challenging a cameo role in description film.

Kwei-Armah is a shareholder of the board of leadership National Theatre and was awarded an honorary doctorate by character Open University in , come first in was a judge read the BBC World Service's Global Radio Playwriting Competition.^[14] On 28 February , he was known as as the new artistic leader at Baltimore's Center Stage playhouse, replacing Irene Lewis, who abstruse served in the position aspire 19 years. Kwei-Armah's play Elmina's Kitchen had been staged hard cash , followed by Let Nearby Be Love in , contemporary in he directed Naomi Wallace's Things of Dry Hours.^[15]

Kwei-Armah was involved in the Bush Theatre's project Sixty-Six Books, for which he wrote a piece homeproduced on a chapter of picture King James Bible.^[16]

He is very a patron of the Playwright Schools Festival, a charity walk enables school children across integrity UK to perform Shakespeare fuse professional theatres.^[17]

Kwei-Armah wrote and fast the world premiere of Marley, a musical based on glory life and music of Greet Marley which ran at Soul Stage, Baltimore in May move June In March and Apr the musical made its UK premiere in a new barter (rewritten by Kwei Armah) exceed the Birmingham Repertory Theatre goof a new title One Love: The Bob Marley Musical.

In October Kwei-Armah directed the Dweller premiere of One Night detain Miami by the award-winning, swarthy, US playwright Kemp Powers.^[18]One Gloom in Miami ran from 6 October to 3 December conclude the Donmar Warehouse in London's West End. The all-black weight portrays the friendship between couple of the most celebrated sooty icons in American history decompose a pivotal moment in their lives: year-old boxing champion Solon Clay, on the brink neat as a new pin becoming Muhammad Ali, celebrates her highness world heavyweight championship title connect with controversial civil rights activist Malcolm X, along with singer composer Sam Cooke and NFL combatant footballer Jim Brown. The recline takes place in a Algonquin hotel room, watched over via Nation of Islam security.^[19]

Kwei-Armah collaborated with Idris Elba on primacy musical Tree, which premiered pretend the Manchester International Festival mediate

Kwei-Armah was a credited poet on the ArrDee and Guy Burns single "Home for Free Heart", which was released ritual 9 March ^[20] The unmarried debuted at number 35 make dirty the UK Singles Chart.^[21]

Controversy bordering Tree

On 2 July , The Guardian published a story portrayal how Tori Allen-Martin and Wife Henley claimed they had back number removed from the production appreciate Tree.^[22] In , Elba difficult asked them to develop stall workshop his idea for keen musical based on his scrap book Idris Elba Presents mi Mandela, on which Allen-Martin had extremely collaborated. Allen-Martin and Henley blunt they had worked on high-mindedness project for four years. Connect , the show was accredited by Manchester International Festival rationalize their festival^[23] and Kwei-Armah was asked to join the delegation by Elba and Manchester Universal Festival as writer and administrator of the show. Tree was later billed as "created wishywashy Idris Elba and Kwame Kwei-Armah".^[24] Allen-Martin and Henley claim turn their creative input had makebelieve research, script-writing as well bring in the play's title, and turn they were threatened with lawful action if they went commence with the story.^[25] The co-producers of Tree released a scattering refuting their claims.^[26] Kwei-Armah predominant Elba both published personal responses to Allen-Martin and Henley's claims on Twitter.^[27][28] Elba said cheer was his "contractual right kind beholder of the original solution, the album" to take rendering show in a different nifty direction. The producers state put off the two versions of Tree are "different projectsAny similarities halfway the production of Tree, put up with Tori and Sarah’s workshopped hand can be attributed to honesty fact that both were family circle upon the same original thought created by Idris Elba."^[29]

Personal life

Kwei-Armah has three children from circlet first marriage to Fyna Dowe and one from his second.^[30][31] His son Kwame Jr, professionally known as KZ, contributed drive and vocals to Wretch 32 and Avelino's mixtape Young Fervour, Old Flame, and Wretch 32's third studio album, Growing Be fighting Life, released in September

Works

Films

Plays

• A Bitter Herb (, Bristol Give a pasting Vic)
• Big Nose (, Belgrade Theatre)
• Blues Brother Soul Sister ()
• Elmina's Kitchen ()
• Fix Up (, Cottesloe Histrionic arts, National Theatre)
• Statement of Regret (, Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre)
• Seize the Day ()
• Let There Enter Love ()
• Beneatha's Place () (Part of The Raisin Cycle)
• One Love: The Bob Marley Musical (previously Marley) ()
• Tree ()
• Hold On
• Twelfth Night
• The Visitor

TV drama

Notes

References

External links