What does theatre mean to you?
Theatre means, being alive, in the moment, experiencing the now and truly being able to appreciate the minutiae around you that you miss ordinarily. Theatre is the embodiment of acting; to act is to do. You get to take a journey with the performance.
What’s your favourite theme of your play?
Mine is the notion of the assumed roles we all have within the family unit. One of my characters struggles to remain stoic in the face of adversity, and crumbles in silence.
Why did you want to become a director?
I wanted to give life to a piece of theatre, to be able to be a part of the very fabric of the show and to take audience members and show them my vision
What’s your favourite play you’ve seen recently?
I recently saw Das Ding and the complexity of the writing and the wit and brilliance of the actors make it stand out for me.
Tell us about your play in 3 sentences.
Random is about family. Random is about loss. It is about acceptance or the failure to do so.
Dogs or cats?
Dogs
Jay Z or Beyonce?
Jay Z
Who’s a director you aspire to be like?
Rikki Beadle Blair is unmatched in his energy, his vision and his unrelenting work ethic and he is the director I’d most like to emulate, especially after witnessing him work first-hand.
How do you start with a text?
I envision scenes from it and the lighting it’ll take to make it come to life. Once I can work that out in my head, the play and its potential almost materialise as I read through the text.
How are you going to find your actors?
I’ll be putting out feelers in my network to help spread it via word of mouth, social media, and the like.
How do you feel that your background influences your take on theatre?
Growing up I got to experience African drama as well as Bollywood movies and that allows me to see where there’s room for overlap, merging and growth within the the different cultural media, be it, the telling of a story passed down from grandparents to an ambitious child who sets it up on stage or a lovelorn man singing to win his love back or the retelling of a myth.
How did you find out about Stonecrabs?
I was fortunate enough to work with two alumni of the course who had nothing but great things to say about the course. They gave me directions and tips on how to make better use of space and acting and that made me want to know more.
What are you up to at the minute?
I am currently working on staging my play as well writing another piece I’d promised myself I’d finish by the end of the year.
Tell us about yourself in 20 words.
I’m a visual person who is fascinated by the normal goings-on that so few tend to notice.
Do any of the characters in the play remind you of someone you know?
I see elements of my father in the Father in the play. He shares the same stoic patriarchal calm and reserve that is expected of men in Black/African communities. Emotions are almost taboo.
What’s a current topic you feel very strongly about?
Currently it’s in the misrepresentation of younger black men in the media and how it seems to be a catch-22 where they’re perceived to have ‘sold out’ if they seek to leave their backgrounds, yet when they do make a success of themselves their successes are often overshadowed by the misdeeds of others which results in a lack of visible role-models for those growing up and consequently fall into ‘unpleasant situations’
What’s your favourite dinosaur?
Velociraptor
What sort of films do you like?
Any film with a decent enough plot. – I recently watched a sci-fi flick where the main character was his own mother AND father. Amazing
Would you rather spend the rest of your life in one room but all the food you could ever eat, or be able to go anywhere but never eat again?
Looks like I’ll be that one skinny guy hitchhiking across Northern Ireland then won’t I?!
What’s your favourite “Knock Knock” joke?
Knock knock- who’s there?- martini- Martini who? Martini finger’s broken let me in
What’s your favourite hideaway you’ve found in London?
The Southbank Center terrace
What do you hope for the future?
Satisfaction, and excellence in what I do