The Young Vic Theatre has announced full casting for Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah‘s (The Collaboration) razor-sharp satire and UK premiere, Beneatha’s Place, about the power of knowing your history and the cost of letting it go. The production runs in the Main House from 27 June to 5 August with opening night for press on 5 July.
Cherrelle Skeete (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hanna) will star as Beneatha Younger, Zackary Momoh (Seven Seconds, The Nevers) as Joseph Asagai/Wale Oguns, Sebastian Armesto (Leopoldstadt, The Tudors) as Daniel Barnes/Prof Mark Bond, Jumoké Fashola (The High Table, For All the Women Who Thought They Were Mad) as Prof Shirley Jones/Aunty Fola, Tom Godwin (Best of Enemies, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical) as Mr Nelson/Prof Gary Jacobs, and Nia Gwynne (Tolkien, Timon of Athens) as Mrs. Nelson/Dr Harriet Banks.
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.
Inspired by the groundbreaking civil rights drama, A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha’s Place challenges today’s culture wars about colonial history and reckoning with the past.
The creative team is completed by Set and Costume Designer Debbie Duru, Lighting Designer Mark Henderson, Sound Designer Tony Gayle, Voice and Dialect Coach Esi Acquaah-Harrison, Casting Director Heather Basten CDG, Jerwood Assistant Director Ellis and Jerwood Trainee Assistant Director Tia-zakura Camilleri.
Tickets are on sale now at www.youngvic.org
