National Theatre Announce 10 Nigerian Poets to Perform at Three Sisters (W)R.A.P Party , a No-Fuss Night of Poetry and Music
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15 January 2019 National Theatre announce 10 Nigerian poets to perform at Three Sisters (W)R.A.P Party, a no-fuss night of poetry and music To celebrate Inua Ellams’ ground-breaking new version of Three Sisters, set in 1960s Nigeria, the National Theatre is proud to host the official Three Sisters (W)R.A.P Party at the end of the play’s three month run in the Lyttelton Theatre. Inua Ellams’ Rhythm and Poetry Party is a nostalgic, no-clutter, no-fuss night of poetry and music. This special edition will take over the Lyttelton Theatre foyer for one night only on 20th February 2020. Ten Nigerian poets will perform commissioned poems responding to the play’s themes of sisterhood, feminism and womanism in pre and post-colonial Nigeria - all sound-tracked by a selection of Afrobeat, Hip-Life and Hip Hop tracks by DJ Lex Amor and hosted by Inua Ellams himself. Inua Ellams said: “The RAP Party is the most fun I have and uniting its vibe of community, solitary and celebration with the cast and audiences of Three Sisters, by extending the themes of the play into poetry, is the perfect, perfect, way of ending its phenomenal run at the National Theatre. The line up is incredible and the party will be legendary, please come and join us.” Inua Ellams’ (W)R.A.P Party at the National Theatre will feature the incredible talents of Tolu Abgelusi, Sarah Lasoye, Rachel Long, Tania Nwachukwu, Rachel Nwokoro, Selina Nwulu, Obi Okigbo, Tolani Shoneye (Tolly T), Ruth Sutoyé and Michelle Tiwo. The event starts at 7:30pm in the Lyttelton Theatre foyer and all tickets are £10. To book tickets, please visit nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/three-sisters-wrap-party Three Sisters is on until 19th February in the Lyttelton Theatre, for further information, visit nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/three-sisters Notes to Editors This will be the 47th edition of Inua Ellams’ R.A.P Party. For images, please see here. For any queries, contact Katie Marsh, Press Manager at the National Theatre, [email protected] Biographies Tolu Agbelusi Tolu Agbelusi is a Nigerian British poet, playwright, producer, educator and lawyer. A Callaloo Fellow, she was shortlisted for the 2018 White Review Poetry Prize and is a 2017 BBC Slam Finalist. Agbelusi has performed widely including at Stanza Poetry Festival, Lagos Poetry Festival, the Southbank and IWM. Her work addresses the unperformed self, womanhood and the art of living. Agbelusi is published nationally and internationally including in White Review, Brittle Paper, Aké Review, Pittsburgh Poetry Review and in Filligree, a Peepal Tree Anthology. She is the curator of Home Is…, a poetry and visual arts project that included exhibitions, workshops & the play, Ilé La Wà which toured between 2018-2019. Leading diverse workshops including at Birbeck University and King’s College London, she is also the creator of Home Sessions, a seasonal development program and community for young Black poets. Her first poetry collection will be published by Jacaranda in 2020. @ToluAgbelusi Sarah Lasyoe Sarah Lasoye is a British-Nigerian poet, born and based in London. She is an alumni of the Barbican Young Poets programme, and current member of Octavia - Poetry Collective for Womxn of Colour. Her work has been commissioned by St. Paul’s Cathedral, and featured on BBC Radio 4. She also writes for gal-dem, an online magazine for women of colour. @sarahfovea Rachel Long Rachel Long is a poet and founder of Octavia Poetry Collective for Womxn of Colour, which is housed at Southbank Centre, in London. Rachel’s poetry and prose have been published most recently in Filigree: An Anthology of Black British Poetry, and Mal - a journal of sexuality and erotics. She is Assistant Tutor to Jacob Sam-La Rose on the Barbican Young Poets programme, 2015-present. @rachelnalong Tania Nwachukwu Tania Nwachukwu is a Nigerian-British writer, poet and performer from London. She is a member of the Octavia Poetry Collective and a Barbican Young Poets alumna. She is also the co-founder of Black in the Day, a crowdsourced photo archive documenting the lives and experiences of Black people in the UK, and a founding member of Adanta - the UK based pan-African dance group. @tanianwachukwu Rachel Nwokoro Rachel Nwokoro is a neurodiverse multidisciplinary artist of Nigerian heritage, specifically belonging to the Indigenous people of Biafra. Rachel has been performing spoken word poetry nationally and internationally and was the first international poet specially invited to be poet-in-residence in Mexico. She has also won a number of awards and competitions, most notably 2016 UK Slam Poetry Champion. She has worked with the RSC, Royal Court, Soho Theatre, Lyric Theatre, Her Majesty's Theatre, Actors Centre, ITV, Nationwide, Sky News, NSPCC, Nickelodeon, Birmingham Opera Company, Saatchi and Saatchi, Fortnum and Mason, Thames Festival Trust, Stonewall UK, Sofar Sounds, Shambala Festival, Brainchild Festival and many other renowned organisations worldwide. @RachelShapes Selina Nwulu Selina Nwulu is a writer, poet and essayist. She has written for a number of outlets such as the Guardian, New Humanist and Red Pepper and has toured her work nationally and internationally. She has also been featured in Vogue, ES Magazine, i-D and Blavity amongst others. She was Young Poet Laureate for London 2015-6, a prestigious award that recognizes talent and potential in the capital. Her first chapbook collection, The Secrets I Let Slip was published in 2015 by Burning Eye Books and is a Poetry Book Society recommendation. From 2017- 2018, she was ‘Writer and Creator in Residence’ at the Wellcome Trust, looking creatively at food and how it connects to our health and matters of social and environmental justice. In 2019 she worked with Somerset House on a project around loneliness and climate change for the Earth Day Season. She has read her work extensively both internationally and throughout the UK in a number of cultural institutions such as Somerset House, BBC Radio 4 and Southbank Centre. Her work was recently published in the critically acclaimed anthology New Daughters of Africa and she was shortlisted for the Brunel International African Poetry Prize 2019. Twitter: @SelinaNwulu Instagram: @selinagn1 Obi Okigbo Obiageli Okigbo is a Brussels-based Nigerian artist. Her training as an architect at the Oxford University and the Architecture Association (UK) left a strong imprint on her work, expanding her reach through new media and support, ranging from “Indian ink on linen” to oil paint and collage. In 2005, she launched the Christopher Okigbo Foundation in honour of her father who departed on the field of the Biafra war in 1967. The connection between these two great spirits accentuates the multi-disciplinary approach that Obi inscribes in her work, as we recognize the expressiveness of a Rembrandt, the serenity of a Vermeer, and the strength of a ‘Mother Idoto’ in Obi’s powerful and soft brushstrokes. After a series of exhibitions in Brussels, London and Dubai, Obi Okigbo’s oeuvre is presently on view in Lagos. Tolani Shoneye Tolani Shoneye (or Tolly/Tolly T) is best known as one third of The Receipts Podcast; a leading UK podcast which she has been hosting with Audrey Akande and Milena Sanchez. Outside of the podcast, Tolani has established herself as a writer, host and influencer. She has written for Elle, The Independent, OK and The i. For TV, Tolani has been in the writer's room for a new BBC pilot, Wetin Dey. She also worked as an assistant producer and co- hosted the show. As a writer, she is developing an original scripted show with Bandstand Productions and had a monologue commissioned as part of the sellout run of My White Best Friend at the Bunker Theatre. @tolly_t Ruth Sutoyé Ruth Sutoyé is a creative producer and artist whose work spans across photography, poetry and film. Roundhouse Resident Artist and Barbican Young Poet alumna, her work has featured in several publications and platforms including Peepal Tree Press, University of the Arts London and The Cob Gallery. She serves as Project Manager for Heaux Noire, an organisation amplifying the work of Black & Brown womxn artists in the UK. Sutoyé has performed, showcased and produced across the UK and abroad, including Southbank Centre, St Paul's Cathedral, The Design Museum and Lagos International Poetry Festival. Bald Black Girl(s) is her debut exhibition supported by Arts Council England. @ruthsutoye Michelle Tiwo Michelle is a poet, actor, songwriter and one third of Sistren. They are a Barbican Young Poet alumna and have performed at venues including Barbican Centre, Bush Theatre and Bunker Theatre. @chelleot Lex Amor (DJ) Lex Amor is a Rapper, Producer, DJ and multi-instrumentalist from North London. With a background in audio engineering and facilitation, Lex is already cultivating a fast-growing group of listeners whether from her characterful slant on descriptive hip-hop or her monthly podcast, The Mellowdic Show. Part of the SXWKS collective, her peers and collaborators include Touching Bass, Steam Down and the Rhythm & Reason collective. Twitter: @LexAmor_ Instagram: @lexysaluteme .