Latest news with #Youngers
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Little Simz delays album to shoot movie
Little Simz has pushed back the release of her upcoming album, Lotus. The British rapper cited "shooting a movie" as the reason for the delay. Originally due to be released on 9 May, the album will now come out on 6 June. Simz, real name Simbiatu Abisola Abiola Ajikawo, shared the news of the delay on Instagram. "Hey guys, I'm having to push my album back due to scheduling of shooting a movie that just came in." She added: "Not ideal for me or you I know, trust me I've tried many ways around it but just means I can't do the film otherwise. If there was ever a time I ask for your grace and patience it is now. "I'm sorry maynnnnn, I proper am. But only a few more extra weeks then yours." As an actor, Simz has previously appeared in Netflix's revival of Top Boy as Shelley, and Meleka in the TV series Youngers. Her first role was as Vicky in the BBC children's series Spirit Warriors. She has also appeared as herself in Sony's Spider-Man Universe film Venom: Let There Be Carnage, when she sang her track Venom. In other Little Simz news, the Mercury Prize and BRIT award-winner is set to play a one-off orchestral show at London's Meltdown 2025 in June.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Yahoo
2 men have been recharged with Pierce County murders after release from state hospital
Two men whose Pierce County murder cases were dismissed over mental-competency issues have been recharged after being released from a state psychiatric hospital. Both Kurt Otto Alan Youngers, 60, and Antonio Ray Perez, 32, are charged with first-degree murder and were to be arraigned Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court. Youngers is accused of shooting his father, 78-year-old Otto Youngers, in the face and killing him on Feb. 1, 2018. Court records indicate the defendant thought his father was a Nazi and had killed the defendant's best friend. Questions arose about Kurt Youngers' competency to stand trial, and the case was dismissed in November 2018 when attempts to restore his competency were unsuccessful. He then was committed indefinitely to Western State Hospital, records show. Antonio Ray Perez, 32, is accused in the April 2022 strangling death of his grandfather, 80-year-old Raymond Leroy Plattner. He was diagnosed with delusional disorder, persecutory type by a state evaluator, The News Tribune previously reported. Questions also arose about Perez's competency to stand trial, and his case was dismissed in January 2024 when attempts to restore his competency were unsuccessful. He, too, was committed indefinitely to Western State Hospital. Prosecutors dismissed cases against both men without prejudice, meaning charges could be reinstated if circumstances regarding the defendants' mental health changed. They learned recently that both men had been released from the state hospital to an intensive behavioral health treatment facility in Olympia, court records show. In the case of Youngers, prosecutors learned that his prescriptions for psychotropic medications were suspended in 2019 because they were deemed no longer necessary and that he was released to the Supreme Living facility in Olympia in January 2025. 'During his time at Supreme Living, records indicate the defendant has requested independent living. Given the nature of the underlying charge in this case, the state is requesting a warrant issue for the defendant's arrest,' prosecutors wrote in an affidavit of probable cause filed in Superior Court earlier this month. Youngers was booked into the jail on that warrant Wednesday, jail records show. In the case of Perez, prosecutors learned that the defendant was evaluated at Western State Hospital in May 2024. 'The clinical staff noted that they recognized that the defendant was assessed as being at moderate to high risk of violence' but that if stayed on his treatment plan the likelihood of serious harm 'wasn't evident,' prosecutors wrote in a new affidavit of probable cause. He then was released to Supreme Living, where in Februrary 2025 he was accused of violating multiple conditions of his release and was set for 'eviction' from the facility later this month. A warrant was requested for his arrest, and he was booked into the jail Wednesday.
Boston Globe
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘The Grove' expands the Ufot Family Cycle with a story both humane and moving
Advertisement Whether their role is large or small, the 13-member cast is aces, across the board. Aided by her design team, Timpo constructs an atmosphere that amounts to a kind of visual poetry, lending the play the quality of myth. (Timpo also helmed The Huntington's entrancing 2022 production of Set in 2009, 'The Grove' is focused on Adiaha, an ambitious young writer played by Abigail C. Onwunali, who nearly sets the Wimberly Theatre stage on fire with her impassioned performance. The play alternates between Adiaha's parents' home in Worcester, Mass., and the apartment in the Inwood section of New York City that she shares with her girlfriend, Kimberly Gaines (Valyn Lyric Turner), an artist. (Udofia, who grew up in Southbridge, Mass. about 25 miles from Worcester and attended Wellesley College, has dedicated her play to 'the young woman I once was.') Adiaha is trying to summon the courage to talk with her deeply traditional parents, Abasiama (Patrice Johnson Chevannes) and Disciple (Joshua Olumide) about the fact that she is gay. It's clear that that would be an explosive conversation. Of course, group portraits of a family coming apart at the seams are a staple of the theater: the Lomans, the Tyrones, the Youngers, the Wingfields – hell, all the way back to the House of Atreus. What matters is whether the playwright can deliver vividly individualized portraits within that larger picture. Advertisement Udofia can, and does. Though father Disciple is a volatile, dogmatic, and narrowly religious guy who seldom communicates at a volume lower than a shout, 'The Grove' is not built around the tired binary of lovable victim and hissable villain. That path would be too easy and simplistic for a playwright of Udofia's skill. Abigail C. Onwunali and Patrice Johnson Chevannes in "The Grove." Marc J. Franklin Adiaha has profound respect for her Nigerian heritage, which adds tension to the question of whether she will be forced to choose between living with authenticity or maintaining the loving bond she has with her parents. From start to lump-in-the-throat finish, Onwunali makes us feel the weight of that choice. (Last November, when Dawn M. Simmons directed In a captivating touch that underscores the family's connection to its history, five 'Shadows' (Ekemini Ekpo, Janelle Grace, Patrice Jean-Baptiste, Chibuba Bloom Osuala, and Dayenne Walters) dressed in traditional garb and representing the family's ancestors, circle the action of 'The Grove,'' speaking and singing in Ibibio, the language spoken by the Ibibio people of Nigeria. As Udosen, described by the playwright as Adiaha's 'fun uncle,' Paul-Robert Pryce is a font of ebullience and charisma in every scene he's in — very entertaining to watch. The play loses some steam in the scenes where Adiaha and Kim thrash out the issues in their relationship. 'The Grove' would benefit from some judicious trims there. But the bickering between the two young women can also be seen as part of Udofia's dramatic rigor and intellectual honesty. What Adiaha wants is to live a true life, which means an imperfect life. Advertisement 'Sojourners' was on The response from the audience in the Wimberly Theatre Wednesday night was among the most fervent I've ever seen. Yes, the crowd doubtless included plenty of family and friends of the cast and the creative team, given that it was the show's official opening night. But the burst of joy as they leaped to their feet at the end of the performance seemed utterly spontaneous. In any case, it was, without question, utterly warranted. THE GROVE Play by Mfoniso Udofia. Directed by Awoye Timpo. Presented by The Huntington at Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. Through March 9. Tickets start at $29. 617-266-0800, Don Aucoin can be reached at
