Orange Tree Theatre Presents JMK Award Winner Kalungi Ssebandeke's MEETINGS

Orange Tree Theatre presents JMK Award Winner Kalungi Ssebandeke's MEETINGS by Mustapha Matura, designed by Olivia Jamieson.

Suited, booted, and stuffed with American burgers and fries, Hugh walks out of a meeting and buys a mango on the street. To the bemusement of his high-flying wife Jean, Hugh becomes obsessed with the foods of his Trinidadian childhood and hires a cook, Elsa, to indulge his nostalgic passion. Mustapha Matura's razor-sharp comedy about identity, belonging and the cost of progress.

Kalungi Ssenbandeke is a director, writer, and actor. As a director, he recently directed Attempts on Her Life by Martin Crimp for the newly formed drama school Bristol School of Acting founded by Stuart Wood with co-artistic director NANCY MEDINA the incoming Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic Theatre. Prior to that, he worked as Director in Residence at Tonbridge School, whilst also directing NT Connections play Remote by Stef Smith for White City Youth Theatre at Lyric Hammersmith.

He is also returning to the Orange Tree after performing in Blood Knot and writing Prodigal, a short play for the OT's Inside/Outside series. His further acting credits include Othello (The Watermill Theatre). His film credits include Columbite Tantalite and for television Doctor Who.

As a writer, his debut play Assata Taught Me premiered at Gate Theatre in 2017 starring Adjoa Andoh and Kenneth Omole, directed by BAFTA Nominated Artistic Director of Bush Theatre Lynette Linton. Both plays (Assata Taught Me and Prodigal) are published by Bloomsbury and Nick Hern Books respectively.

The JMK Trust was founded in memory of James Menzies-Kitchin, a young director of great promise who died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 28, to give opportunities to theatre directors of similar ability and vision. Each year it gives one prestigious award to enable an outstanding applicant aged 35 or under to create their own production of their choice of text. Its intensive development and selection process has itself given powerful impetus to the best theatre practitioners of the future. Previous winners have become major players in British theatre, including Thea Sharrock, Orla O'Loughlin, Bijan Sheibani, Joe Hill-Gibbins, Natalie Abrahami, Roy Alexander Weise, Polly Findlay and Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu.

The expanding National Directors Programme, working in partnership with 14 regional theatres, is an essential network- seeking talent from across the UK, which feeds into the JMK Award and enables a truly national reach. The programme at each partner venue is run by the JMK's Director Practitioners who are established, locally-based directors. They curate the programme for their region, working with their nearest partner venues to tailor the work to the needs of local directors providing year-round training, mentoring, bursaries and support for directors of all ages. The current partner theatres are Bristol Old Vic, Tobacco Factory Theatres, HOME in Manchester, Manchester Royal Exchange, Royal and Derngate Northampton, New Vic Stoke, Salisbury Playhouse, MAST Southampton, Traverse Edinburgh, Birmingham Rep, Nottingham Playhouse, Northern Stage, Reading Rep and Leeds Playhouse.

Details about how to apply for opportunities and to sign up to regular mailings can be found at https://www.jmktrust.org/

The JMK Trust is supported by the Katie Bradford Arts Trust, the Martin Bowley Charitable Trust, the Victoria Wood Foundation, the Foyle Foundation, the Noël Coward Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Hollick Family Foundation, the Garrick Charitable Trust, the Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust, the Leche Trust, Arts Council England, the Maria Bjornson Memorial Fund, the Patricia Routledge Foundation and the generosity of our patrons and individual donors.

For further information on how to support the Trust, please see: http://www.jmktrust.org/support-us/

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