Msamati fronts Tiata Fahodzi’s Belong at Royal Court
Lucian Msamati, who is currently starring in Dominic Cooke’s National Theatre production of The Comedy of Errors, will lead Tiata Fahodzi’s upcoming Royal Court co-production Belong – his first show as the company’s artistic director.
Msamati plays Kayode, a British MP. Following a controversial defeat at the polls, he returns to Nigeria and enters a political battle that makes him question what he believes and where he truly belongs.
Election lost, speeches made and controversy stirred – Kayode’s hiding. He’s not even answering the door to the cleaner, and Rita is not going to start getting out the Hoover in her designer heels.
Escaping the political heat in London, he flees to Nigeria – a British MP and a self-made man. Once there, he gets caught up in a whole new power game. Bola Agbaje’s new play questions our notion of home.
Msamati was appointed artistic director of Tiata Fahodzi in November 2010. He will shortly be seen in Rupert Goold’s Richard II for the BBC and will also feature in the new series of HBO’s Game of Thrones.
His stage credits include Clybourne Park (Royal Court/Wyndhams), Death and the King’s Horseman (National), The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Lyric Hammersmith) and Ruined (Almeida). For television he has been seen in The Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency for the BBC. His writing and co-writing credits include Memory Play, Eternal Peace Asylum, Born African and Zuva Crumbling.
Further casting for Belong is still to be announced.
Msamati stars in Dominic Cooke’s National Theatre production of The Comedy of Errors until 1 April 2012, playing in rep in the NT Olivier.
He appears alongside Lenny Henry who makes his National debut with the show, Cooke’s first new Shakespeare production since taking over at the Royal Court in 2007, having served for several years as an associate director at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Cooke recently announced he will step down as artistic director of the Royal Court in April 2013.
