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Red Ladder Theatre Company’s ‘My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored’ Nominated for 3 Black British Theatre Awards

Posted on September 26th 2022 by Whats on Northeast

Red Ladder Theatre Company’s production of My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored, written by Nana-Kofi Kufuor, has received three nominations for The Black British Theatre Awards (BBTA’s), including, Outstanding Performance in a Play for Misha Duncan-Barry, Best Director for Dermot Daly and Best Production for Red Ladder Theatre Company. The play is a gripping portrayal of racial identity and Black British experiences.

Launched in 2019, The BBTA’s is the first award show to celebrate the excellence and influence of Black performers and creatives within the UK theatre industry, highlighting excellence and leadership as well as inspiring young Black talent. Supported by the National Theatre, the ceremony will take place at The Lyttelton Theatre on Sunday 16 October.

The BBTA nominations come fresh from My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored’s recent run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it received the Summerhall Lustrum Award for Outstanding Theatre. Caitlin Mawhinney was also shortlisted for Best Designer at The Stage Debut Awards for set and costume design. In the play fifteen-year-old Reece is roughly accosted by the police outside M&S. His teacher Gillian, watches on but does not intervene frozen out of fear for her own safety. The next day, Reece locks them both in her classroom, refusing to relinquish the key.

Produced by Leeds-based Red Ladder Theatre Company, the three nominations are a testament to the touring theatre company’s radical socialist roots and commitment to making new plays, thereby empowering, supporting and inspiring writers and theatre artists to tell their stories. The company has spent five decades encouraging and producing new talent and shining a spotlight on marginalised voices and experiences.

Red Ladder Artistic Director Rod Dixon said: “At Red Ladder, we are thrilled to have received a nomination for Best Production and the nominations for Dermot and Misha are rightfully deserved. We also congratulate Misha’s co-star Jelani D’Aguilar for his powerful portrayal of Reece. The best theatre lives on beyond a performance and My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored does exactly that.”

My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored Director Dermot Daly said: “I’m thrilled to have received a nomination for Best Director, and especially for a play such as My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored. The best art leaves you questioning things and we’ve created a play, thanks to Nana-Kofi’s extraordinary writing, which represents individuals who wouldn’t normally see themselves as characters in theatre. It makes the audience think and ask themselves questions, as well as addressing key issues about race and identity within Britain.”

Outstanding Performance in a Play nominee, Misha Duncan-Barry said: “I’m delighted to be recognised by The Black British Theatre Awards for my portrayal of Gillian in My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored. This play is a beautifully raw, honest and enlightening exploration of the black British experience. It’s a testament to the powerful writing of Nana-Kofi Kufuor and the direction of Dermot Daly. Black women are complex and Gillian as a character allows me to explore the beautiful, happy and painful elements within this. I’m honoured I get to share the stage with Jelani D’Aguilar in bringing these characters to life.”

Misha Duncan-Barry, a Leeds-based actor, writer and director, has received a nomination for her portrayal of teacher Gillian. Since graduating with a BA Hons in European Theatre Arts from Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance, Misha has gone on to forge an acting career working with Risky Things productions on the short film ‘Blue Moment’, East Riding Theatre company’s production of ‘Good People’ by David Lindsay-Abaire, Hope Mill Theatre’s ‘Hamlet’ and ‘One Good Night’, Bolton Octagon Theatre’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘I Asked Your Dad If He could Do it’ by Northern Broadsides, and Filter Theatre’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.

Leeds-based actor, director, actor and filmmaker Dermot Daly, whose extensive credits for stage and screen include work with Leeds Playhouse, Slung Low, Talawa, Theatre Royal Stratford East, BBC, ITV and Channel 4, has been nominated in the Black British Theatre Awards Best Director category.

To find out more about Red Ladder Theatre Co, or to book tickets for the tour of My Voice Was Heard But it Was Ignored, follow this link at WWW.REDLADDER.CO.UK

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