POET? SPOKEN WORD ARTIST? MC? BEATBOXER? PERFORMER? West Yorkshire Playhouse is looking for you for its new show ODE TO LEEDS By Zodwa Nyoni Directed by James Brining, Artistic Director of West Yorkshire Playhouse West Yorkshire Playhouse is running open auditions to meet exciting young artists from West Yorkshire, to act in its new production Ode to Leeds. The show tells the story of five young poets from Leeds, who are selected to compete at the world’s most prestigious international poetry slam competition in New York City. Fuelled by love, pride and passionate protest their words light fires to show the world who they are and what they can be. We’re keen to hear from people from all back
Zodwa Nyoni: “You have to cry a little bit, drink some tea, eat cake and power through.” Playwright Zodwa Nyoni and director Alex Chisholm talk about the process of creating Nine Lives, a drama about LGBT asylum seekers that opens at the Arcola this month. Alex Chisholm: Tell me about Nine Lives. Where did the idea came from and how did you come to write it? Zodwa Nyoni: Nine Lives is a one man play about a character called Ishmael, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker who has fled due to his sexuality. He’s been dispersed to Leeds, and he is lost in this new place, figuring out the process of asylum and dealing with his past. The idea came from wanting to understand the process of asylum, and from ha