Kwame Kwei-Armah
Actor, playwright, singer, and broadcaster (born 1967) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Kwame Kwei-Armah?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE (born Ian Roberts; 24 March 1967[1] in Hillingdon, London)[2] is a British actor, playwright, director and broadcaster. In 2005, Kwei-Armah became the second black Briton to have a play staged in the West End of London[lower-alpha 1] when his award-winning piece Elmina's Kitchen transferred to the Garrick Theatre. He was the first black Briton to head a major British national theater, when he took the directorship of the Young Vic in 2018.[3] Kwei-Armah was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to drama.[4][5]
Kwame Kwei-Armah | |
---|---|
Born | Ian Roberts (1967-03-24) 24 March 1967 (age 57) Hillingdon, London, England |
Alma mater | Barbara Speake Stage School |
Known for | Actor, playwright, singer, and broadcaster |
Children | 4 |
Brought up in Southall, West London, he changed his name at the age of 19, after tracing his family history, through the slave trade back to his ancestral African roots in Ghana. His parents were born in Grenada. He has four children.
As an actor, Kwei-Armah is probably best known for playing paramedic Finlay Newton in the BBC medical drama Casualty from 1999 until 2004. He served as the chancellor of the University of the Arts London from 2011 to 2015.[6] and was the artistic director of Baltimore's Center Stage Theater in the United States from 2011 to 2018.[7] From 2018, he was artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London, announcing his departure in February 2024.[3]