Monday, 15 April 2013


15th April 2013

A monthly blog from Havana Wellings-Longmore, Queen of the Universe

Hi Guys,


I’m a little sad as God's Property has wrapped up and I already miss the cast and crew who always had a smile for me. However, the good news is Talawa has already been approached by venues who would like to have the show in their 2014 programmes. So if for some inexcusable reason, you missed it you can catch it again next year. Keep an eye on our Production page for more details.



Typically Talawa we move straight on to the next one (we coined that phrase way before Jay Z!), and we are preparing simultaneously for Talawa Firsts and TYPT: 13 auditions. I have been given my share of scripts and look forward to reading them over the next couple of weeks.


In my last blog I told you I was off to see several shows and I have to tell you about my favourites:

Whole by 20 Stories High was amazing and I was blown away by the power and depth of the production. The publicity for the show did not prepare me for the explosive content and the award-worthy performances by the young cast. The play explores many things including friendship, sex and sexuality but ultimately it looks at how small, seemingly insignificant actions can cause major ramifications in people’s lives. This show was created for young people yet it presented the teenage issues in such a universal way that I was utterly engaged with the narrative and characters. Definitely a piece that will stay with me for life, as it made me wonder what happened to the ‘Holly’ or ‘Hollys’ of my own school years?

Equal Writes was a night of quality playwriting and outstanding performances to raise awareness of the lack of female diversity on stage and the disparity between the opportunities available in British theatre for male and female practitioners. There are more actors on stage than actresses and playwrights and directors are more likely to be male. Curated by Mandy Fenton, the twelve pieces presented were very diverse from monologues, to two handers and selected scenes. Performed by 22 actresses, an actor, and all directed by six females, together they truly showcased how little variety we see on stage. Equal Writes had a range of women I have never seen on stage; women over 70, a female wheelchair user, a female MI6 agent, and I have never seen a bearded lady! I have to mention a few names; look out for writers – Andrew Curtis, Sumerah Srivastava, Alice Jolly and Emma Wilson. The performances of the night have to go to Poppy Corbett, Mandy Colleran and Yvonne Brewster. Equal Writes made me look at Talawa’s archive and out of 46 productions,16 have been by female writers and 5 of the 16 had male writers credited as well. In stark contrast to this, Talawa has always been led by women and Michael Buffong is the first male Artistic Director. What do you make of that?

This month I’m off to see The First 20 Minutes at Soho Theatre, Take a Deep Breath and Breathe, Ondisting, Around the House and One Act Wonders all part of the Oval House’s 33% London season.

Last month I shared details about the UCL database of Slavery Ownership in Britain, I wanted to explain for those who asked how you can use this to trace your ancestry. If you start with Family Search you can look back as far as the 1830’s for the births, deaths and marriage certificates for most Caribbean islands. However, there are no records available prior to that decade, and if you need earlier records you will have to begin to trace ancestry through the Slave Owners and the records kept by them. This is where the UCL site comes in. For more details on how to trace Caribbean ancestry visit this link.

The other discussion I have been having is about upcoming film Nina; based on the life of Nina Simone and starring Zoe Saldana.


Nina Simone
People are very upset that Nina, a dark skinned African American, will be portrayed by a fair skinned Dominican/ Puerto Rican actress.

Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone
Now, when Denzel Washington was cast as Malcolm X people didn’t question the fact he was much darker than Malcom in real life, and the same goes for Angela Bassett playing Tina Turner. Zoe Saldana is a very talented actress but Nina Simone herself said she would want Whoopi Goldberg to play her if the opportunity arose.

Nina Simone (left), Whoopi Goldberg (right)
The issue I have is that Saldana has very dark makeup applied to her skin, (almost blackface) and a fake nose which implies it is vital to the story that her character has African features. So should Hollywood have made more effort to find a young, talented Whoopi lookalike (India Arie?) or take a talented actress with box office pulling power regardless of her appearance and features?


On a lighter note, this month I’ve been listening to British artists Native Sun and French rapper Pumpkin check out Legacy by Native Sun and Silence the Radio by Pumpkin.



Havana Wellings-Longmore


Follow us if you liked this blog. And keep in touch via Twitter @TalawaTheatreCo and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TalawaTheatreCompany

Monday, 11 March 2013


11th March 2013

Queen of the Universe: For the lover or loner in you

So, the shortest month of the year is over and Talawa’s God’s Property is in full swing at Soho theatre, Jackie’s been uploading the reviews on to our website and social networking pages. If you haven’t seen it yet, what are you waiting for?

Want to hear a Talawa six degrees of separation story? 

met with the Alfred Fagon Award's new chair, Anton Phillips and handed over to a new administrative team led by Tiata Fahodzi. (Talawa will of course continue to support this prestigious writers’ award but all enquires for this year should be referred to the Alfred Fagon Award website.) 

The 2012 Alfred Fagon Award winner was TYPT graduate Michaela Coel.

Michaela will star in Janice Okoh’s play Three Birds at the Bush Theatre from 22 March.

Casting for Three Birds was held in Talawa’s Studio by Royal Exchange Manchester.

Royal Exchange Manchester’s Artistic Director, Greg Hersov is the new chair of Talawa’s Board.

Michael Buffong and Talawa will be working the the Royal Exchange Manchester this year. Details to be announced. Whew!

February was also American Black History Month and I used my Pinterest Board to explore the corporate advertising and support received from international companies that do not acknowledge the event in the UK. I was really surprised by the positive campaigns by Heineken and McDonald’s. It makes you wonder if charities like Talawa could get corporate sponsorship from companies like this in the US.

This month I heard the University College London (UCL) has produced a database of those paid compensation after being forced to free their slaves in 1833. The British government paid out £20m to compensate approximately 3,000 families that owned slaves for the loss of their "property" when slave-ownership was abolished in Britain's colonies. The news has leapt on the names and descents of famous Brits including the family of George Orwell and distant relatives of Prime Minister David Cameron.



I also finished the autobiography of Mary Seacole as there has been talk of removing her from the school curriculum recently. I think anyone, male or female who is willing to bankrupt themselves to get to the front line of a war to treat and care for soldiers, deserves a place in the history books. I can’t imagine anyone doing that now. Maybe someone will write a play about her, Winsome Pinnock or Patricia Cumper perhaps? Especially as 2013 sees an abundance of historical black plays across the UK this spring; Tull and Call Mr Robeson at the Octogon Bolton, Josephine and I at the Bush Theatre and Hutch at Riverside Studios.

Speaking of historical ladies and Patricia Cumper; Talawa’s former Artistic Director, was honoured with an MBE in this year’s honours list for services to Black British Theatre. I am so proud of her and now think of her as ma lady Cumper. 

March is choc-a-block with great shows, unfortunately I can’t see (afford) them all but I am seeing; Liar Liar at Unicorn, Whole at Half Moon Theatre, Equal Writes at the Tristan Bates Theatre, Ballet Revolución at Peacock Theatre, Paper Dolls at Tricycle Theatre and will head to the Southbank for the WOW Festival. Don’t worry; I’ll be sure to tell you what I think of them all in my next blog.

Two songs of the month for you, picked to please both the lovers and the loners in the aftermath of Valentines. The first is a few years old but still sounds amazing, Mr Intentional by Lauryn Hill (for the singletons) and the other was released earlier this year, Adorn by Miguel (for the lovers).

Havana Wellings Longmore
aka Queen of the Univers

Monday, 25 February 2013

Talawa Theatre Company, Soho Theatre and the Albany present

God's Property
Written by Arinze Kene
Directed by Michael Buffong
Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir (Chima), Bradley Gardner (Liam), Ash Hunter (Onochie), Ria Zmitrowicz (Holly)

It's 1982. London is restless, gripped by spriraling unemployment and inner city riots. Ska beats dominate the airwaves and in a flat in Deptford, South London two mixed race brothers are re-united.

This week GOD'S PROPERTY opens at Soho Theatre having finished its successful run at the Albany.

Kingsley Ben-Adir plays Chima, one of the brothers in the play. I spoke to Kingsley recently to find out a bit more about him and what it is that inspires him about Arinze's play.

"My first experience of acting was playing a bumble bee in a ballet when i was four! A little further down the line I applied to no less than 13 drama schools in 2007. I got into the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and graduated in 2011. I highly recommend the drama school experience to any aspiring actor.

The high points of my career so far have been working for a couple of weeks on WW2 with Brad Pitt, filming in a shanty town in South Africa, visiting Robben Island and being part of RIOTS at the Tricycle, which is such as important piece of writing. 

What inspires me about God's Property? The characters are charming and funny and I love the pace of the writing. 

And my unlikely secret is that Mrs Doubtfire is my all time favourite film!"

Kingsley Ben-Adir (Chima)


BOOK NOW!

God's Property will tour to:

The Albany
20th - 23rd February, 7.30pm
Matinee on 23rd February, 2.30pm

Soho Theatre
26th February - 23 March, 7.30pm
Matinees at 3pm on Saturdays

mac birmingham
26th March - 28th March, 8pm

Thursday, 21 February 2013


Talawa Theatre Company, Soho Theatre and the Albany present
God's Property
Written by Arinze Kene
Directed by Michael Buffong
Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir (Chima), Bradley Gardner (Liam), Ash Hunter (Onochie), Ria Zmitrowicz (Holly)

It's 1982. London is restless, gripped by spriraling unemployment and inner city riots. Ska beats dominate the airwaves and in a flat in Deptford, South London two mixed race brothers are re-united.

Anthony Ekundayo Lennon was at the Albany last night for the first preview of GOD'S PROPERTY and here's what he thought:

"'Brave and beautiful' were the first words that came out of my mouth to Michael Buffong as the house lights came up after the first preview last night at the Albany Theatre.

I think GOD'S PROPERTY takes a bold and inspiring look at issues that may appear to some to belong to a past era but are more relevant now than ever. 


It's brilliant to see new contemporary writing that deals with subjects that evoke such a mixture of feelings. The play is moving and funny and at times it was, for me, uncomfortable viewing. How refreshing that Arinze (the writer) chose to look much closer at feelings that are too often brushed under the carpet.

So much has changed since 1980's London in relation to 'race' and 'class' and the political landscape. Yet so very much has remained the same. 


GOD'S PROPERTY is a very human story about deep love (or at least the longing for it), the things we choose to remember and the things we wish to forget - whilst ignoring the person staring back at you in the the mirror!

I very much look forward to seeing GOD'S PROPERTY again and seeing how it evolves."

From left to right: Kingsley Ben-Adir (Chima), Ash Hunter (Onochie), Ria Zmitrowicz (Holly) and
Bradley Gardner (Liam) Photo: Helen Maybanks



BOOK NOW!

God's Property will tour to:

The Albany
20th - 23rd February, 7.30pm
Matinee on 23rd February, 2.30pm

Soho Theatre
26th February - 23 March, 7.30pm
Matinees at 3pm on Saturdays

mac birmingham
26th March - 28th March, 8pm