Belgrade Theatre announces casting for the world premiere of Tom Wright’s I Ain’t Dumb
The Belgrade Theatre is delighted to announce full casting
for I
Ain’t Dumb, a brand new play from acclaimed playwright and former
Belgrade Youth Theatre member Tom Wright.
Produced by PlayWell Productions and
Epicene, in association with the
Belgrade Theatre, I Ain’t Dumb premieres from Weds 9 – Sat 12 Feb in the B2
auditorium.
Following
critically acclaimed hits Undetectable,
My Dad's Gap Year, and Very Special Guest Star, Tom Wright brings this electric
world-premiere to his hometown of Coventry, as part of UK City of Culture
celebrations.
A tough inner-city school, proud of
its inclusivity, suddenly explodes in a rapidly escalating culture war.
Leave it to Natasha, grieving
student, and Black Lives Matter activist, alongside streetwise gay-bestie
Cieren, to try and desperately hold their classmates together. But what if
Cieren is the reason everything is falling apart?
Sex secrets, hip-hop and hope fight
for centre stage in a vibrant, loud and proud, real talk rollercoaster.
Rikki Beadle-Blair (MBE) directs a cast of young Midlands-based
talent, including Simon Castle
(Cieren), Harry Rose (Leon), Kavita Viyas (Mary), Sam Butters (Mark), Kimisha Lewis (Ms. Senabo), alongside
newcomers Nicole Mbaeri (Natasha)
and Vikas Gogana (Vikram), who are
excited to be making their professional debuts.
Writer Tom Wright
said: “I’m over the moon to be debuting
brand new work here at the Belgrade, a theatre that was incredibly formative to
me growing up in Coventry. We’re thrilled to also be running an
extensive engagement programme. This sees us collaborating with LGBTQ+ young
people in Coventry and connecting with local audiences through lively panel
talks, as well as offering an LGBTQ+ writer substantial play development and a
full staged reading in the B2 space.”
Justine Themen,
Co-Artistic Director for the
Belgrade’s City of Culture programme said: “We
are delighted to have a piece of work written by Tom as part of the Belgrade's
City of Culture year. The Belgrade’s Co-Artistic Directors have been keen to
programme a diversity of work that speaks to a broad range of the city’s
communities, embedding each show in a context of creative collaboration and
debate with the communities themselves. Our young people have been increasingly
vocal about gender and sexuality over the last few years and we have been
looking for a project to reflect and build on this. Tom’s work provides the
perfect opportunity - his work has been a mouthpiece for LGBTQ+ experiences for
several years in London where he now lives, and he is by origin a Coventry lad
with roots in The Belgrade Youth Theatre. We are excited to see how the work
will resonate with Coventry audiences.”
Please find cast images here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ys7WvaGb3OXYAOHqbmxpsLjhawCNl5CD?usp=sharing
Tickets for I Ain’t Dumb are
available by phoning the Box Office on 024 7655 3055 (phone lines open 10:30am
– 2pm, Mon – Sat), or visiting www.belgrade.co.uk
where tickets are even cheaper.
ENDS
For further media
information or images please contact Jessica Milner via
07701 397 635 jmilner@belgrade.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
TOM WRIGHT
Tom
Wright is a writer, director,
dramaturg and producer. He is currently the New Work Associate at Kiln Theatre
and previously Head of Artist Development at The Old Vic. His two back-to-back
debut plays Undetectable and My Dad’s Gap Year were nominated for
seven Off West End Awards including Best New Play and Most Promising
Playwright. His writing credits include Very
Special Guest Star (Omnibus Theatre), Undetectable (King’s
Head Theatre), My Dad's Gap Year (Park
Theatre) and Rebel Song (The
Other Palace); and as a director include Blowhole
(Pleasance Theatre), Dumbledore Is So
Gay (Vault Festival, Origins Award Winner) and Tumble Tuck (King’s Head
Theatre/Underbelly Edinburgh/Soho Theatre/Old Vic New Voices). His writing and
directing credits include Sirens and White Lies (ArtsEd). His film credits
include Stockholm and Kweenship.
RIKKI BEADLE-BLAIR
Rikki
Beadle-Blair MBE is a writer, director,
composer, choreographer, designer, producer and performer working in film,
theatre, television and radio. Having written and directed 40 plays over the
last 20 years along with several feature films, shorts and tv episodes and
series, he has won several awards including the Sony Award, the Los Angeles
Outfest Screenwriting and Outstanding Achievement awards. Beadle-Blair’s
passion for encouraging creativity and business sense in others has made a
committed and effective mentor to a great many writers, actors, composers and
directors around the world.
CAST BIOGS
Nicole
Mbaeri - Natasha
I
Ain't Dumb is Nicole’s
professional stage debut.
As well as acting, Nicole is a
published author and poet, and is currently developing various projects of her
own. She spends most of her days daydreaming about new story ideas and most of
her nights writing them up. It's been said that if her head isn't in the
clouds, it's definitely somewhere in a book!
Nicole was born and raised in London
and is a die-hard Gunners fan. She is in love with everything creative and is
particularly fond of the late poet Dorothy Parker who co-wrote the academy
award-winning film, A Star Is Born.
Simon
Castle - Cieren
Simon is an actor and writer
specialising in telling queer stories.
Theatre credits include: It’s A Sin, Glory Dazed (Phat Swan
Theatre Company); The Tempest (Big
Telly/Creation Theatre Company); The Snow
Queen, Swallows and Amazons, Wind in The Willows (Creation Theatre
Company); Romeo and Juliet (In-House,
Royal Shakespeare Company); COCK
(Moonlion Theatre Company).
Recording credits include: Whoopsie (BBC Radio 4); Corriolanus, Julius Caesar (Royal
Shakespeare Company); British Podcast Awards 2021’s award-winning Tough Talks (Reform Radio/Hits Radio).
Writing credits include: Lynx Africa and Dildos (Team Angelica Books); B U T T E R F L Y (Forest
School/Hackney Empire).
Simon is an alumni of The National
Youth Theatre, Soho Theatre’s Writers Lab, The National Theatre’s Playwriting
Programme and The PappyShow’s Mentoring Programme.
Harry
Rose - Leon
Harry Rose is a recent East 15 graduate. A mixed-race actor, native to
Birmingham, this watchable actor has a skillset that transcends from screen to
stage, and a strong musical talent.
Vikas
Gogana - Vikram
I
Ain't Dumb is Vikas’
professional stage debut.
As well as acting, Vikas is a
screenwriter and is currently developing various projects of his own.
Vikas was born and raised in
Leicester and is a die-hard Foxes fan.
Kavita
Vyas - Mary
Kavita’s training includes National
Youth Theatre and Court Theatre Training Company. Her passions include
language, culture and inclusion, so she was delighted to be chosen as an ‘actor
of colour’ to perform for Hear Me Now
Presents: lovesexidentityambition. Kavita also took part in National Youth
Theatre’s R&D for Spring Awakening. As well as theatre Kavita has filmed a
variety of short films and commercials. She is also at Level 3 learning British
Sign Language- another one of her many passions
Sam
Butters - Mark
Sam Butters is a recent grad from
ArtsEd. His credits include; Hand Of God
(VAULT Fest), Doctors (BBC), Saving Rachel (ArtsEd). He is also
founder of TECTUM Theatre, a company designed to showcase and support working
class creatives.
Kimisha
Lewis - Ms. Senabo
Kimisha Lewis is a board member of
the EGO performance company. Her previous stage credits include: Upstart Crow (Gielgud Theatre), Bright Places (Birmingham Rep), Freeman (Strictly Arts Theatre plus
international tour), Noughts And Crosses
(Pilot Theatre), Over The Top (Belgrade
Theatre), The Twisted Tale Of Hansel and
Gretel (Birmingham Hippodrome), Macbeth
(Guildford Shakespeare Company), 90 Days (Futuretheatre), A Long Morning Quiet (Sheffield
Crucible Theatre), The Last Appointment (Sheffield
Crucible Theatre), Last Dream (On Earth) (National
Theatre Of Scotland), Send: A Game Of
Textual Tennis (Lyric Hammersmith), Rise
Up! (Theatre Centre), Three Wise
Monkeys (The Bush Theatre), Table
(Stratford Circus), Tales (Quarter Too
Ensemble), Cat And Mouse (Coventry Belgrade Theatre). Her film credits
include: The Last Word (Legends), Henry - Tripping The Boards (Firewood
Pictures), Shell (Joe Sampson), Behind Closed Doors (Ego Jam). Her
voiceover credits include: Lady Percy (Shakespeare
for all), Hidden In Plain Sight
(Highley Sprung).
ABOUT THE BELGRADE
The
Belgrade is Coventry’s
largest professional theatre, producing and presenting a diverse range of
shows, events and ground-breaking community and education initiatives. In its
landmark building, across the region, the UK and online, it uses theatre to
entertain, inspire, share the city’s stories, uncover hidden histories, and
unleash the creativity of diverse communities.
After a year of partial closure due
to the pandemic, Belgrade reopened to a socially distanced public in May 2021,
determined to be open as much as possible during City of Culture, and moved
into a non socially distanced programme in the autumn.
A key partner of Coventry UK City of Culture 2021, the
Belgrade Theatre’s 2021 programme has been led by three artists from diverse
backgrounds, under the role of Co-Artistic Directors, alongside members of the
local community. Corey Campbell, Balisha
Karra and Justine Themen are developing a new vision and way of working for a
21st Century Theatre, bringing with them a unique perspective that celebrates
Coventry’s diversity and drives positive change. The KEYS project aims to achieve a strategic shift to embed
diversity, community collaboration and talent development at the heart of the
theatre process.
In October 2021, Corey Campbell was appointed to the new
post of Creative Director, focusing on the Theatre’s artistic output across
both its professional and community areas, with Laura Elliot appointed as Chief Executive, responsible for overall
strategy and to run the commercial side of the Belgrade. The new leadership
team took up their posts at the beginning of January 2022.
BACKGROUND TO THE KEYS PROJECT
Outgoing Chief Executive and
Artistic Director Hamish Glen’s original inspiration for this project came from
Coventry’s Ira Aldridge story.
Coventry has a reputation for offering both welcome and opportunity to all and
in 1828 this spirit was captured when Aldridge, an African-American actor, travelled
to England and was made manager of the Coventry Theatre. Not even 21 years of
age, he became the country’s first theatre manager of colour at time when
slavery was still widespread throughout the British Empire.
Ira Aldridge remains a key part of
the City’s cultural heritage, but 150 years after his death there is still a
distinct lack of diversity amongst the UK’s artistic leaders, despite the
hugely diverse make-up of the UK.
Fired by Ira Aldridge’s legacy to the city, Hamish Glen “handed over the keys”
of the Belgrade Theatre to the next generation of theatre-makers, and has
allowed them the opportunity to do it their way in 2021.
BELGRADE
CITY OF CULTURE PROGRAMME 2021
The Belgrade’s City of Culture programme has included a
festival of new writing in a co-production with Paines Plough in Paines
Plough’s Roundabout, the world’s
first plug-in, pop-up and play theatre, with four new plays performed in
repertory from July to August. As part of UK
Asian Film Festival in May the Belgrade Theatre hosted five film premieres,
socially distanced in their B2 auditorium. The brand-new digital version of Like There’s No Tomorrow was also produced in May, a National
Theatre Connections play first created in 2020 that gives voice to young
people’s climate concerns, presented by Belgrade Youth Theatre.
November saw the red carpet premiere of SeaView, an original digital series developed by Strictly Arts
Theatre Company and Belgrade Film and Digital Ltd using theatre techniques,
conceived before Covid-19 took the world of theatre online, and directed by
Corey Campbell. Inspired by a true story, and lived experiences, SeaView is a
supernatural drama centred on urban, working class communities in the Midlands.
Other 2021 highlights included the world premiere of This
Little Relic by Karla Marie Sweet, a metaplay about producing Ira
Aldridge’s The Black Doctor, as part
of the BBC’s Contains Strong Language Festival, performed in front of a live
audience in September at the Belgrade, and subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio
3.
In March 2022, The Belgrade will present the world premiere
of Kerbs,
a debut play from Michael Southan exploring taboos around sex, romance and
disability, in association with Graeae
Theatre Company.
Fighting Irish, a new Belgrade Theatre production by Coventry writer,
Jamie McGough, premieres in April, and is the extraordinary, true story
charting the rising and falling fortunes of the McGough brothers, and maps the
journey of the Irish diaspora through one family’s story. Co-directed by
Belgrade Artistic Directors, Corey Campbell and Hamish Glen, Fighting Irish, marks a triumphant
finale to the Theatre’s UK City of Culture 2021 programme.
