Take a look at the rehearsals of Beneatha’s Place, a satire written and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah that will have its UK premiere at the Young Vic.
Inspired by the groundbreaking civil rights drama A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha’s Place is about the power of knowing your history and the cost of letting it go.
1959. The first wave of independence is sweeping across Africa and Beneatha has left the prejudice of 1950s America for a brighter future with her Nigerian husband in Lagos. But on the day they move into their new house in the white suburbs, it doesn’t take long for cracks to appear, changing the course of the rest of their lives.
Present day. Now a renowned Dean whose colleagues are questioning the role of African American studies for future generations, Beneatha returns to the same house in search of answers.
Cherrelle Skeete (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) stars in the title role as Beneatha Younger, with Zackary Momoh (Seven Seconds) as Joseph Asagai/Wale Oguns, Sebastian Armesto (Leopoldstadt) as Daniel Barnes/Prof Mark Bond, Jumoké Fashola (The High Table) as Prof Shirley Jones/Aunty Fola, Tom Godwin (Best of Enemies) as Mr Nelson/Prof Gary Jacobs and Nia Gwynne (Tolkien) as Mrs Nelson/Dr Harriet Banks.
Set and costume design is by Debbie Duru, lighting design by Mark Henderson, sound design by Tony Gayle, voice and dialect coach Esi Acquaah-Harrison, casting director Heather Basten, Jerwood assistant director Ellis and Jerwood trainee assistant director Tia-zakura Camilleri.
Written and directed by Kwei-Armah, the Young Vic Theatre Artistic Director, it plays in the Young Vic Main House from June 27-August 5.
More information and tickets: www.youngvic.org
