THE
EDUMFA LIBRARY
The
Private Library of Kwesi Kay, Poet, Playwright, Theatre Practitioner
|
THE
EDUMFA LIBRARY |
The
Private Library of Kwesi Kay, Poet, Playwright, Theatre Practitioner |
|
KWESI KAY |
| Date of Birth: 29 December 1940, Saltpond, Ghana, West Africa. | ||||
| Kwesi Kay was born in Ghana, West Africa, and arrived in England in 1962 to pursue a degree in English and Drama at Bristol University. | ||||
He
made his professional acting debut in 1963 in Radio for the BBC World
Service. In 1965 he appeared in Television in a BBC1 Wednesday Play, "For
The West", directed by Toby Robertson. In the following year he made
his stage debut at the Royal Court Theatre in a Soyinka Play, "The
Lion And The Jewel". During an acting career spanning some 25 years
he worked with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Company in London, at the
Gate Theatre in Dublin and at the Lyric and Arts Theatres in Belfast.
In Radio he played "Lennie" in the long-running serial "Waggoners
Walk" in addition to several Radio plays both for BBC Home and World
Services. He worked with some of the most distinguished directors of the
British and Irish Theatres, including Michael Maclliammôir, Hilton
Edwards, Terry Hands and John Barton. |
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Kwesi
wrote his first poem in 1957 titled "Muse of Africa", to the
beat of the African drum, which he subsequently lost. His second poem
"Africa My Land" written on Ghana's independence day was published
by the Drum Magazine in the same year. He had his first poems broadcast
by the BBC World Service in 1963 and from that time until 1970, he supplied
the Corporation with several poems which were broadcast in programmes
such as "Writers Workshop" inter alias. |
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In 1958, Kwesi wrote his first play, "The Treasure Chamber"a five hour epic based on an Egyptian folktale, which he produced and directed with the Mfantsipim Students Dramatic Society in 1959. In 1970 he mounted a showcase production of his second play, "Maama" also written in 1958 at the Little Theatre in Newport Street, off London's West End. |
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In
1960 Kwesi formed the Afrikana Dramatic Society for whom he directed a
number of plays. The society's production of Molière's "Les
Fouberies de Scapin" in an African setting was highly acclaimed and
earned the Society the accolade of being the first Amateur Dramatic Group
to receive funding from the Ghana government. |
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In
England Kwesi founded the Acacia Theatre Trust in 1976 and directed a
number of workshops at the Oval Theatre. The company mounted a production
of August Strindberg's "Miss Julie" in 1979 at the Roundhouse,
London, produced by Ruddy L Davis, one of the directors. In 1987, with
funding from North West Arts, the company embarked on a tour of the North
West of England with a play based on the Ugandan Okot p' Btek's poem "Song
of Lawino, which was adapted, produced and directed by Kwesi Kay with
Doyin Da Costa as Lawino. |
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| The following pages give a summary of Kwesi Kay's career and education. | ||||
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Please
be aware that material in this Library is copyright and permission is
needed before it can be reproduced wholly or in part for commercial purposes.
All enquiries regarding reproduction should be directed to the Library. |
