Full Cast Announced For THE CLINIC At Almeida Theatre

The Almeida Theatre has announced the full cast for the world premiere of Dipo Baruwa-Etti's The Clinic.

Monique Touko directs Toyin Ayedun-Alase, Donna Berlin, Maynard Eziashi, Simon Manyonda, Gloria Obianyo and Mercy Ojelade in the production which opens on Monday 12 September, with previews from Saturday 3 September, running until Saturday 1 October.

Director: Monique Touko; Designer: Paul Wills; Lighting Designer: Matt Haskins; Sound Designer: Christopher Shutt; Composer: Shiloh Coke; Choreographer: Lanre Malaolu; Casting Director: Julia Horan

Performances run Saturday 3 September - Saturday 1 October 2022.

Wunmi is tired of the fight. When her world collapses, she turns to Ore for help.

Ore resolves to save Wunmi, providing sanctuary in her parents' home - a family of charity workers, therapists and politicians, dedicated to serving their community.

Wunmi's presence soon disrupts familiar patterns - cracks start to widen and bad blood thickens. As these pillars of society crumble, Wunmi wonders whether she's walked into a refuge or a trap?

The Clinic is a fiercely political and lyrical play by Dipo Baruwa-Etti (An unfinished man, The Yard) written during a twelve-month residency with the Almeida as part of the Channel 4 Playwrights' bursary.

This world premiere, directed by Monique Touko (Fair Play, Bush Theatre), is a tense and transfixing portrait of a woman with a hunger for change, a family on fire and how to rise from the ashes of a broken world.

Biographies:

Toyin Ayedun-Alase plays Wunmi. Her theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors (RSC); Sleeping Beauty (Nottingham Playhouse); I'd Rather Go Blind (Omnibus Theatre); The Return of the Unknown (Marlowe Theatre); Romeo + Juliet (Secret Cinema); The Three Penny Opera (National Theatre). For television, her work includes Top Boy and Motherland.

Dipo Baruwa-Etti is a playwright, filmmaker, and poet. As a playwright, he was the 2020 Channel 4 Playwright-on-attachment with the Almeida Theatre and shortlisted for the George Devine Most Promising Playwright Award the same year with his play When Great Trees Fall. His other plays include The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars (Theatre Royal Stratford East); An unfinished man (The Yard) and the upcoming Half-Empty Glasses (Paines Plough). As writer-director, his work includes the award-winning short film The Last Days, a BFI Network/BBC/Tannahill production starring Adjoa Andoh and Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn. He also has original projects in development with companies including Blueprint Pictures and Duck Soup Films. As a poet, he has been published in The Good Journal, Ink Sweat & Tears, Amaryllis, and had his work showcased nationwide as part of End Hunger UK's touring exhibition on food insecurity.

Donna Berlin plays Tiwa. Her theatre work includes The Gift (Belgrade Theatre and tour); Chasing Rainbows (Hoxton Hall); A Midsummer Night's Dream, Of Kith and Kin (Sheffield Crucible); The Chalk Garden (Chichester Festival Theatre); Great Apes (Arcola Theatre); Anna Karenina and Rolling Stone (Royal Exchange, Manchester). Her television credits include Breeders; Requiem and Game Face. For film, her work includes In Darkness and Monochrome.

Maynard Eziashi plays Segun. His theatre work includes Barber Shop Chronicles (National Theatre); The Strange Death of John Doe (Hampstead Theatre); Freefall (Pleasance Theatre) and The Dead Wait (Park Theatre). His film credits include The Contract, Color Me Kubrick and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Simon Manyonda plays Bayo. His theatre work includes Far Away, The Way of the World (Donmar Warehouse); Actually (Trafalgar Studios); Alys, Always (Bridge Theatre); Barber Shop Chronicles, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire and King Lear (National Theatre). His recent television credits include Pennyworth; The Bay and His Dark Materials. For film, his work includes The Witches; In Fabric and The Current War.

Gloria Obianyo plays Ore. Her theatre work includes Paradise (National Theatre), for which she won the 2022 Ian Charleson Award; The Girl from the North Country (West End and Toronto); The Living Newspaper (Royal Court); Jesus Christ Superstar (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre); The Grinning Man (Bristol Old Vic) and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Donmar Warehouse). Her television work includes Good Omens and, for film, her credits include High Life and Dune.

Mercy Ojelade plays Amina. She returns to the Almeida having previously appeared in They Drink It in the Congo. Her other theatre credits include Still (Traverse Theatre); Love and Information (Sheffield Crucible); The White Devil (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (RSC). Her television work includes Outlander and film includes Incendiary.

Monique Touko is a London based multidisciplinary artist working in theatre, radio and film. She made her professional debut with Malindadzimu by Mufaro Makubika at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs. Her second professional show was Fair Play by Ella Road at Bush Theatre. Her credits as an assistant director include Wishlist (Royal Exchange Manchester and Royal Court); Kanye the First (HighTide); Yellowman (Young Vic); On the Exhale (Traverse Theatre); c*ck(Chichester Festival Theatre); Richard II (Shakespeare's Globe); Rosmersholm (Duke of York Theatre) and Blood Wedding (Young Vic). She is also part of The Ubunifu Space, a definitive guide to music and culture from the youth of Africa and the diaspora - the Ubunifu way.

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