Award-winning director and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah’s acclaimed re-working of Twelfth Night will be one of the highlights of his first season as artistic director of the Young Vic.
Originally performed at The Public Theater in New York in 2016 and revisited this summer as part of the free Shakespeare in the Park Delacorte season, the popular version of the Shakespeare classic was conceived by Kwei-Armah and songwriter Shaina Taub.
Re-designed for the Young Vic stage by Rob Jones, Twelfth Nigh will be co-directed by Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of the Public Theater, and Kwei-Armah.
Running from Tuesday 2 October until Saturday 17 November, the production will feature professional artists alongside community members from Southwark and Lambeth.
Initial casting for the show includes: Gabrielle Brooks as Viola; Gbemisola Ikumelo as Maria; Jonathan Livingstone as Antonio and Silas Wyatt-Barke as Sir Andrew Aguecheek.
Kwei-Armah, the former Casualty actor who has arrived at the Young Vic following an acclaimed and award-winning run as artistic director of Baltimore Center Stage, succeeds David Lan who stepped down in 2018 after 18 years at the helm of the Young Vic.
Commenting on his debut season, Kwei-Armah said: “The Young Vic as a producing theatre has become synonymous with staging international works created by some of the world’s finest directors, performers and creatives; productions and projects that say something about the world that we live in. My first season as artistic director will attempt to balance on those shoulders the things that are important to me: joy, community, politics and these are deeply embedded in all that we do.
“That’s why the musical reworking of Twelfth Night – that I previously directed at the Public Theater in New York – is the show that I have chosen to kick-start my tenure with. A show that stands community members shoulder to shoulder with professional artists, it’s filled with joyful, soulful music by Shaina Taub; it’s a celebration.
“We are are committing to pushing the boundaries further, taking theatre outside our four walls and performing the highest quality shows in prisons, community hubs and centres across London. The first of these shows, Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind, looks at the sexually oppressive culture of Germany in the 19th century.”
Kwei-Armah’s credits as a playwright include: One Love (Birmingham Repertory Theatre); Marley, Beneatha’s Place (Baltimore Center Stage); Elmina’s Kitchen, Fix Up, Statement of Regret (National Theatre); and Let There Be Love and Seize the Day (Tricycle Theatre). His production of One Night in Miami at the Donmar Warehouse was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Play.
His work as a director has taken him to prestigious venues in the US and in the UK. An associate director of the Donmar Warehouse, he has served on the boards of the National Theatre, Tricycle Theatre and Theatre Communications Group. In 2012 he was awarded an OBE for Services To Drama.
Angela Thomas
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