Issue 21  |  August 2010

Soul of the UK

A night showcasing the best of live, soulful sounds from the UK and beyond, in the delectable surroundings of Cottons in Islington.

Featuring: Double MOBO Award-winner  Kele Le Roc | Louise Golbey | Charmain Andrews | Natalie Fiawoo (poet) all backed by resident house band.

Hosted by D’Nyce (Rampage and Bang Radio). With an open mic.

Show time: 9pm

A Small Act

When Swedish teacher Hilde Back decides to sponsor a young, rural Kenyan student she thought little more about it. Years later, out of the blue she hears from Chris Mburu, now a Harvard graduate and human rights lawyer for the United Nations.

Deciding to find the stranger that changed his life, Chris wants to show Hilde how her generosity not only helped him, but was the inspiration for the scholarship programme he has founded in her name.

Followed by a Q&A with Director Jennifer Arnold

Mosi Conde & Kaira Kora Afrika plus One Jah

Live performance from griot Mosi Conde who will debut his new album Kaira Kora Africa (on sale at the gig). Sharing the bill is Jah Mo, with his spiritual, African-used reggae.

Plus Sierra Afric Dance and Guinean drum workshop by Ibrahim Mensaray and Mosi Conde.
* The workshop starts at 5pm

Eddie Kadi

After 2 sold out shows at indigO2 in 2009, Eddie Kadi returns to The O2 arena on 4 September 2010.  A nominee in the Channel 4 Talent Comedy Awards, Kadi is considered by many to be the UK’s premier black comedian.

INFO & TICKETS

Queens of Hip Hop

From back in the day with the golden era classics from the likes to Roxanne Shante & Queen Latifa through to the UK’s own Estelle reigning both sides of the pond in the last couple years, ladies have always played a major part in the culture of Hip-Hop and The Doctor’s Orders are going to show you why with this female line up:

DJ Kayper | Dj Yasmin | Yara Bravo (live) | Lucy Pink & Mildilla (back 2 back) | Sahasrara (live)

In the Blood

European premiere of In the Blood, a play by Suzan-Lori Parks, the first African-American Woman to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize and one of America’s most successful contemporary playwrights.

An urban American “riff” on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize, In the Blood is the story of Hester La Negrita, mother to five children, of five fathers, who makes a home beneath a bridge on the streets of New York. This raw, physical production of Parks’ seminal work will take us to this world that exists on the flipside of the American Dream.

by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Daniel Burgess
Cast: Frances Ashman. Natasha Bain. Eleanor Fanyinka. Vinta Morgan. Richard Pepple. Clifford Samuel

Kizomba Soul

Monthly kizomba night. MD Entertainment & D’Angola Production welcome you over 2 floors with DJ Tó Costa and guests playing their finest selection of kizomba, semba, cabo love, zouk retro, zouk love kuduro, compa and other Afro & Caribbean tunes.

Kizomba Classes from 8pm for beginners, 9pm for Improvers, by Vanessa & Tó Costa ‘Made in Angola’.

True Stories: Trouble the Water

True Stories goes inside Hurricane Katrina, as rap artist Kimberly Rivers Roberts turns her video camera on herself and her neighbours when they are trapped in the city as the waters rise.

Read our review of Trouble the Water

Soundcrash ft Dam Funk & Rustie

Soundcrash presents a night of future rave, twisted soul and irresistible boogie with LA’s “Ambassador of Boogie Funk’ Dam Funk, garage and dubstep producer Rustie, Tokinmonsta, the first lady of Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label and Switzerland’ s Dimlite.

BUY TICKETS

Ali

Understated biopic focusing upon the heyday of boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

The champ sets about winning back his heavyweight title after it is stripped from him due to his opposition to the Vietnam War. At the same time, Ali converts to Islam, mixes with luminaries Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr, and fights a legendary bout against George Foreman in a bid to reclaim the title he believes to be rightfully his.
(2001; USA; Dir: Michael Mann; Cast: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight)

Nothing Is Forever

Nothing is Forever celebrates the completion of the SLG’s £2 million building project, bringing together wall paintings, drawings and text pieces by 20 British and international artists, including Yinka Shonibare MBE.

I’m a Londoner

So you think you know London – but do you? I’m A Londoner explores nine characters and eight stories of the eclectic and electrifying capital city. Set in a park in the heart of London, this comedy explores the relationships between ‘Londoners’ and the beautiful vibrancy  that’s created from the clashes and capitulations between cultures!

Following the successful run at Scoop Theatre Festival this summer, I’m a Londoner returns to The Courtyard in Hoxton Square.

Read our review of I’m a Londoner

Written by Sam Bevitt, Roberto Trippini, Michael Clarkson, and Ben Mcnair
Directed by Saima Duhare (Palladini Productions)
With Tom Bonington, Suni La, Sanita Simms, David Palliser, Velile Tshabalala, Luca Lizzari, Andrew L. Ward

The Pursuit of Happyness

Struggling salesman Chris Gardner leaves his dead-end job to train as a stockbroker. The problem is, he won’t get paid until he passes and, with no money, times get tight for him and young son Christopher.
(2006; USA; Dir: Gabriele Muccino; With: Will Smith, Jaden Smith)

Urban Africa David Adjaye

One of the leading architects of his generation, David Adjaye has stepped out of his regular line of work to photograph and document key cities in Africa as part of an ongoing project to study new patterns of urbanism.

Often regarded as a continent defined by underdevelopment, poverty, war and tourism, through this exhibition Adjaye presents Africa in a different light, examining the buildings and places which have a special resonance with his preoccupations as an architect.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Tense drama. Halle Berry plays a young free-spirited African-American woman searches for happiness in 1920s America by plunging into several marriages, challenging the mores of her small-town community in Florida.
(2005; USA; Dir: Darnell Martin; With: Halle Berry, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Michael Ealy)

Based on Zora Neale Hurston’s novel.