Latest news with #Lamda
The Guardian
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Nikki Amuka-Bird: ‘I'd have drag queens from RuPaul's Drag Race play me in the film of my life'
Born in Nigeria, Nikki Amuka-Bird, 49, studied at Lamda and began her career with the RSC. In 2017, she was Bafta nominated for her role in the BBC adaptation of Zadie's Smith's book NW. The same year, she played the lead in the Donmar's production of Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea. Her recent television work spans Armando Iannucci's comedy Avenue 5; the action series Citadel; and I, Jack Wright, which is on U&Alibi. She is divorced and lives in London. What is your greatest fear? I'm quite scared of bats. I'm just seeing rats with wings – no, thanks. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Lack of confidence masquerading as perfectionism. What was your most embarrassing moment? Being an actor is inherently embarrassing. You have to embrace it. Aside from property, what's the most expensive thing you've bought? A business-class flight. Pure indulgence. What is your most treasured possession? I inherited my mother's home in Antigua – so many wonderful memories there. Describe yourself in three words Optimistic, creative, resilient. What makes you unhappy? Small talk on long journeys. What do you most dislike about your appearance? The gap between my two front teeth. I keep trying to fix it and my teeth keep springing apart again. If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose? Blockbuster Video and the ritual of picking and savouring which films you're going to watch at the weekend. Who would play you in the film of your life? I'd like it to be a 'Rusical' and have drag queens from RuPaul's Drag Race play me at different points in my life. What is your most unappealing habit? People-pleasing. What scares you about getting older? Not being flexible enough to dance freely. Who is your celebrity crush? Tilda Swinton. What is the worst thing anyone's said to you? In a rehearsal just after graduating from drama college, I say my lines to an older actor. He pauses, turns to the director and says: 'I'm sorry, but is she going to do it like that?' What do you owe your parents? I learned from watching my mother to disregard the limitations others place on you. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why? Anyone whose party I said I'd go to and didn't turn up. I can get quite socially anxious at times. What or who is the greatest love of your life? My mother. I owe everything to her. What does love feel like? Like everything is in high definition, and life is on your side. What was the best kiss of your life? I had a first kiss on my birthday once that I'll never forget. Which living person do you most despise, and why? I try to steer clear of hatred – it only eats you up inside. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Onwards and upwards. When did you last cry, and why? Probably watching some poor abandoned cat or dog being nursed back to life by a stranger on YouTube.
The Guardian
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The LeftBehinds review – dystopian thriller finds the National Theatre firing on all cylinders
This is a textbook example of how to approach theatre for schools. Its new touring production, reaching 10,000 secondary students, finds the National Theatre firing on all cylinders with a gripping, often side-splitting adventure that is sensitive to serious themes yet never cringey. Ross Willis has written a post-apocalyptic quest stuffed with quotable lines, a cult in the making that crackles with the split-second retorts and abundant soul of his 2022 play Wonder Boy. Ned Bennett directs with customary audacity, jolting the story forwards for the school-hall audience. Jessica Hung Han Yun (lighting) and Giles Thomas (sound) meld a lurid atmosphere for Georgia Lowe's set and costumes, an extravagant fusion of wild west, sci-fi, ancient Rome and chivalric romance. Yet, cleverly, the props are mostly modified gadgets and cuddly toys recognisable to the audience (it's recommended for over-12s). In a blasted landscape, teenager Kit leads a ragtag group on the hunt for the scattered parts of an android she hopes, once reassembled, will reconnect her with her mother, played in intermittent voiceovers by Sharon D Clarke. Ryn Alleyne is excellent as the fiery Kit, grounding the story in emotion that offsets the production's plentiful pulp stylings. There are quips here that would make John Carpenter proud. This is the first professional theatre that many audience members will have seen, and Bennett's in-the-round production references forms they may know better, including video games, blockbuster movies and graphic novels. Willis has always written next-level stage directions (from Wonder Boy: '100 eyeballs come out from the floorboards') and one challenge for Bennett is that a character in Kit's gang is a detached android arm. Francis Nunnery, dressed in skin-tight green with that limb in hot pink, has a wild time essentially operating his own hand as a puppet. There's a real puppet, too, a plushy and super-cute blue critter designed, built and directed by Matt Hutchinson. Its outrageous flatulence proves essential to the plot. Did I mention the trash-talking, gun-toting baby in an outsized nappy? Or the audience interaction demanding we bellow lies? Along the way Willis engages with issues of fear, friendship and the younger generation's scorched inheritance, targeting an age range (Years 7-9) where the youngest and oldest can seem worlds apart. Perhaps it has a tad too much toilet humour in the mix, and the storytelling veers a little off course before the final showdown, but there's a real sense of fun coming off everyone involved. Among the recent Lamda graduates in the cast, Tanaka Mpofu is hilarious. The National's recent 100% cut to its Primary Schools Touring theatre programme has been rightly criticised. Younger children, too, deserve this kind of rush in their school hall rather than being introduced to theatre through digital learning or a trip to a playhouse. Certainly, more people should get a chance to see The LeftBehinds: fingers crossed that, once the tour is over, this dystopian thriller has a glorious afterlife. Touring secondary schools in Peterborough, 17-21 March, and London, 24-28 March
The Guardian
22-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Rosalind Eleazar: ‘Here we are, oversharing!'
Born in London, Rosalind Eleazar, 36, graduated from Lamda in 2015. In 2019, she was cast in Armando Iannucci's film The Personal History of David Copperfield. In 2020, she won the Clarence Derwent award for her performance in Uncle Vanya at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London. She is currently filming season six of Slow Horses and stars in Harlan Coben's Missing You on Netflix. She is married and lives in London. What is your greatest fear? Perfectionism that leads to procrastination. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?Oversharing my personal life, but here we are, oversharing! What do you most deplore in others? Unbending opinions. Describe yourself in three words Analytical, extreme and playful. What makes you unhappy? Small talk – I don't know how to do it. What do you most dislike about your appearance? My 'fivehead'. I call it that instead of a forehead – it's so big! Who would play you in the film of your life? Gary Oldman has already asked: I think it will help his career. What is your most unappealing habit? Overanalysing. What scares you about getting older? That I didn't appreciate the smaller joys in life. What did you want to be when you were growing up? An air traffic controller. What is the worst thing anyone's said to you? I don't think you could print it, it's so bad. What is your guiltiest pleasure? Watching Love is Blind. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion What do you owe your parents? A sense of humour and quiet ambition. To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why? My closest friend at uni – I sometimes retreat from life in quite an extreme way, without word. Back then, I didn't really understand what I was doing. What does love feel like? It's peace. What was the best kiss of your life? I was 17, with a Greek boy on a Greek island. We were watching the sun come up and we kissed for what felt like hours, and it was magical. I have since taken my current partner back to that island and asked if he could top it! When did you last cry, and why? Watching the documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin [about a gamer who died at 25 of a degenerative muscular disease]. I balled. What would you like to leave your children? A sense of what really matters. What single thing would improve the quality of your life? If I bothered to read instructions. What do you consider your greatest achievement? Working on myself. I'm a work in progress to the end. Would you rather have more sex, money or fame? Sex. How would you like to be remembered? 'Oh, she giggled, didn't she?' What is the most important lesson life has taught you? That fear and excitement sometimes feel quite similar and you can misinterpret one for the other. What happens when we die?I think that we dissolve into the soil and new things sprout from that.
