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Thank you!

THE END OF THE BEGINNING!

A wonderful end to our London tour with two packed-out shows at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham. Two excellent, animated post-show discussions with Audrey West and Sharon Massey from Kids’ Company and Juliet Alexander from The Amos Bursary on Fri, and Diane Abbott MP on Saturday.

Thanks you to all our audiences, venue partners, Arts Council England, The Royal Victoria Hall Foundation and Peggy Ramsay Foundation for making the show possible. Next stop: UK tour! Watch this space!

image Audrey, Juliet and Sharon.

Audience feedback

WHAT OUR AUDIENCES ARE SAYING:

“I absolutely loved this play. Brilliant acting, dialogue, characters, I was spellbound for the duration. Well done everyone ??????  ”  Sola Ott (via Facebook)
“A play that understands teenage angst. Not to be missed.”
– @imjussayin2

“Brilliant incisive writing and great performances”
– @NMTAutomatics

“Inspired by Spora Stories”
– @Genevieve_Dunne

“Thank you so much. You opened up debate about what race means for Spora Stories, for London, and beyond. I hope through your play people consider more viewpoints and think about society in a new light.”
– @RosieCappuccino

“We saw your play last Friday. Really enjoyed it. Raises some serious issues but funny as well. The young cast was brilliant! congrats.” – Ifeoma

“I was thinking about it more…in the discussion afterwards all the focus was on Toby and his difficult decision -but I was also interested in Bali -because she was beginning to question her privileged background and to look at other options…….it’s all fascinating stuff!” – Pat

“Really enjoyed the play and will be coming back for second helpings at Bernie Grant – as usual you hit on subjects that so many of us are having conversations about in our kitchens and front rooms – which is what I especially love about your work.” – Deborah

“Saw Ade Solanke’s East End Boys, West Girls with Ellen Thomas. Great script. Reminding us of the pressures that are put on the young not only from parents but also from their peers. Beautifully executed by a young and relatively new cast members. Well done Ade.” – Anni Domingo

“East End Boys, West End Girls is a success because it deals with the challenges our young people face when choosing between schools, friends, dreams and opportunity. I went expecting belly laughs especially after the fab “Pandora’s Box” but instead I was moved and educated by the performances of the talented young cast (19 – 23) about the world they live in, which although similar, has many differences to the world I grew up in. If you are a parent, uncle, aunty or someone interested in raising youth aspirations, this family play (I took my wife and children, as did many others) is the one for you.” – Toyin Agbetu

Fab media coverage on the show

We were thrilled to be invited into the ARISE NEWS London Studios in Piccadilly to chat about the play. Watch the clip here

The British Blacklist (TBB) interviewed Ade about the changes in London the play looks at.

“Pandora’s Box was set in Lagos and is very much the British-African migration and inter-generational story. This one is about teenagers who live in different parts of London. Three of the characters are British-African, but wearing their Londoner hats more in this story. I wanted to look at how young people in London are interacting and inter-relating. It’s more about class differences and economic differences… in different parts of London.” Read more  here

We had another stimulating chat with Reconnect Africa about the play.

“When I was growing up in London, London was our oyster! We’d spend the whole of the summer holidays exploring the city. …today’s kids are often prevented from experiencing that. So…basically the play is about worlds colliding.” Read the interview  here

We also popped into the BBC Radio London to chat about the show to Dotun Adebayo and shared an extract from the play with his listeners. It was fun!

Check it out BBC London Dotun Adebayo show

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Press Night!

Thank you to all the friends and supporters who came down on press night. We were joined by a real East End MP and a fictional EastEnder from the TV show! Lovely night and more dollops of praise for our brilliant cast.

AMAA NOMINATION

Dazzling Mirage is nominated for an African Movie Academy Award.

Lead actor Kemi Akindoju is nominated for Most Promising Newcomer.

2015 African Movie Academy Awards

The nominees for the 2015 African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) were announced at a gala dinner in  June  in Los Angeles, California.

AMAA announced South Africa as the host country for the 2015 event, which will be held outside Nigeria for the first time since the awards were founded in 2004.

 

Read more about the nominations and awards on Indiewire  here and Screen Africa here

PARIS AWARD FOR DAZZLING MIRAGE

Another international award scoop for Dazzling Mirage!

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This time we won the coveted Audience Award at  Nollywood Week Film Festival in Paris.

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Director  Tunde Kelani (TK)  and star Lala Akindoju were on hand to collect the award.

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Nollywood Kemi1.jpg

Find out more about Nollywood Week Film Festival Paris here

Watch Nollywood Week Film Festival Paris trailer here

I want to be fancy and postsome of their blurb in French!

Vous connaissiez Hollywood et Bollywood, voici Nollywood ! Durant la Nollywood Week, du 4 au 7 juin 2015, le cinéma nigérian est mis à l’honneur au cinéma L’Arlequin. Au programme : projections de films, performances musicales, séminaires et ateliers et la remise du prix du public.

Envie de voyager, de découvrir des réalisateurs venus d’ailleurs ? Envie de découvrir une production cinématographique rare et précieuse ? Alors n’hésitez plus et prenez vos billets pour le festival de cinéma nigérian Nollywood Week ! Voici le programme cinéma du 4 au 7 juin 2015 : 

Read programme details and more info on the great line up here

Nollywood Week Paris 2015 – Festival du Cinéma Nigérian

Cinema l’Arlequin
76 rue de Rennes, 75006 Paris
Metro: Saint-SulpiceOkada Media

Thursday, June 4, 2015 at 8:30 PM Sunday, June 7, 2015 at 11:30 PM (CEST)

Paris, France

CAST FOR PANDORA’S BOX UK TOUR ANNOUNCED!

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CAST LIST PANDORA’S BOX NATIONAL TOUR 2014

Spora Stories is delighted to announce the cast for the UK Tour of Offie-nominated Pandora’s Box.

The cast includes TUNDE EUBA (BABA), CHINWE NWOKOLO (BEV), ANYEBE ANTEYI (TOPE), EDWARD KAGUTUZI (TIMI), YETUNDE ODUWOLE (SIS RONKE), ESTHER UWEJEYAH (TOYIN), AMOUR OWOLABI (PRINCIPAL OSUN) and TOMI OGUNJOBI (MAMA RONKE).

Following sell-out shows at Arcola Theatre, the acclaimed, award-winning British-African family drama, Pandora’s Box, embarks on its long-awaited UK tour. Shortlisted for this year’s Nigeria Prize for Literature, Africa’s biggest literary award, and nominated for Best New Play, Off West End Theatre Awards, this moving tragicomedy about families, betrayal, choices and love is a must-see.

This autumn offers the chance to catch this ‘touching, hilarious’ (The Stage) play that has been dazzling audiences with its ‘enthralling, brilliant’ (Public Reviews) story and performances. Pandora’s Box is generously funded by Arts Council England with additional funding from the Unity Theatre Trust.

“You think England is hard? Compared to Nigeria? My dear, you haven’t seen anything yet!” Summer break is ending. On holiday with her streetwise son in Nigeria, a British-Nigerian mother is in turmoil. Should she leave her only child in a strict Lagos boarding school, or return him to the battlefields of inner London?

“What do you see out of that window? People right? Just people. Because there are no ‘Black’ people in Africa. Let him experience that for a change.” A family spanning three generations and two continents meets in Lagos for the first time in over thirty years. But the joy of reunion also unleashes long-suppressed truths. An exuberant and thought-provoking mix of comedy, tragedy and family drama, Pandora’s Box reveals the heartbreak behind the difficult choices some parents must make – and the price their children pay.

TUNDE EUBA (BABA) is an actor/director/writer/facilitator who has enjoyed a long and varied career in theatre. Starting out as an actor, he later explored other “areas of artistic expression” and turned his hand to writing, directing and more recently, photography. After a ten year break from touring, Tunde is ‘back on the road again’, fittingly retrieving his role of Baba six years after his appearance in the very first reading of Pandora’s Box at the Almeida Theatre.

CHINWE NWOKOLO (BEV) is an actress from South London. She studied entertainment journalism but after playing a role in a short film at university, she turned to acting. After graduating, she enrolled at a weekend drama school where she began her career. Credits include: West 10 LDN (BBC Three). My Territory (Soho Theatre) The Gods Are Not To Blame (Young Vic theatre) and most recent House of Corrections (Riverside Studios).

ANYEBE GODWIN ANTEYI (TOPE) is an actor from south London. He performed as Ariel at the age of 10 in a school community performance of The Tempest at Southwark Playhouse. Since then he has performed at many venues and has two successfully sold out tours with State of Play Theatre. Anyebe trained at Rose Bruford College and is also a member of Theatre Royal Stratford East’s Young Artists Lab, most recently performing in their Summer 2014 studio season. . Credits include: G.I Joe In Dorset (Tour and Mary Shelly Theatre); Flat Lives (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Family 2.0 (The Cockpit Theatre); and Misidentity (Lost Theatre).

EDWARD KAGUTUZI (TIMI) trained at Identity Drama school, Theatre Studies A-Level. Credits include: Theatre – House of Corrections (Bola Agbaje), Covered (Daniel Bailey). Television – Law and Order UK (ITV), Brixton Hill Cop (Triple Threat Media), Mo Ali (Dubplate Drama, Channel 4). Film – The Mirror Boy (OH TV), Illegal Activity (Kingdom Vision Pictures). Awards – Best Young Actor (African Movie Academy Awards), Best Actor (BEFFTA).

YETUNDE ODUWOLE (SIS RONKE) trained at Central School of Speech and Drama, Stella Alder New York, Goldsmiths College and City Lit. She has worked with Tiata Fahodzi, Talawa Theatre, Royal Court Theatre. Credits include: Adulto Orgasmo (Lion 7 Unicorn Theatre), Torn (Arcola Theatre), The New Boss (Broadway Theatre), Hackney Streets (Rosemary Branch Theatre), The Harlot (Coronet Theatre), The Wedlock Of the Gods (Cochrane Theatre), Meet the Adebanjos (Hackney Empire, Catford Broadway Theatre and the OHTV television series), Pandora’s Box (Arcola Theatre) Youngers (E4) and various short films.

ESTHER UWEJEYAH (TOYIN) is a member of Fragments Theatre Company. She played Pontius Pilate in their recent adaptation of The Master and Margarita. Recently she played Nina in Satanic Panic in a successful run at the Drayton Arms Theatre. A Modern Drama Graduate (Brunel). Esther’s work can also be found on screen having appeared as Sabrina in the popular web series Brothers with No Game and as Anne in the web series Redemptions End.

AMOUR OWOLABI (PRINCIPAL OSUN) trained at The Actors Centre, The Actors Lab and Identity Drama School. Amour is a BEFTA and LA-WEB award winner. Recent television and film includes: Dignity Of Difference (BBC), The MehmeFemi’s, Hunting For Hubbies; Silent Witness (BBC); Fall Out (Ch4); Sprint; GT Assure; Nigerian Heritage; Bouquet; Shooting Stars (BBC); All About The Mckenzies; Daarsat; Rayban; Unspoken series 1 & 2; Sainsbury’s; Displaced Diagetics; Shattered Hearts; MTV. Amour has been presenting a live TV show on BEN TV for the past three years.

TOMI OGUNJOBI (MAMA RONKE) is a graduate of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, specialising in acting, singing, dance and movement. Tomi has worked with Ola Rotimi, Femi Osofisan, Dapo Adelugba, Bayo Oduneye, Bassey Effiong, Ben Tomoloju, Chuck Mike and Rufus Norris. Recent credits include: Our Husband has Gone Mad Again by Ola Rotimi, Where the Devils Dwell by Rhiannon Tise, Royal Court Young People’s Theatre London and Muje-muje by Ben Tomoloju.

ADE SOLANKE (PLAYWRIGHT) is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter and founder of Spora Stories. Her acclaimed play, Pandora’s Box, was nominated for Best New Play in the Off West End Theatre Awards and is shortlisted for the Nigeria Prize for Literature, 2014. Several of Ade’s scripts have been both quarter and semi-finalists in the US Academy’s Nicholl Screenwriting Contest. She worked in Hollywood as a Story Analyst. Earlier in her career, she was voted ‘London’s Top Youth Entrepreneur’ for her writing business.

Twitter: @sporastories / #PBox2014 | Facebook: www.facebook.com/SporaStories