Young Vic Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah to be interviewed live on YouTube tonight
Sarah Lambie
Monday, July 6, 2020
Mountview LIVE have announced their next three guests with Artistic Director of the Young Vic Kwame Kwei-Armah on 6 July, Olivier-Award winning director Stephen Daldry on 13 July, and Academy and Tony award-winning actress Glenda Jackson on 20 July.
Kwame Kwei-Armah will be interviewed by Mountview alumnus Ben Lafayette, while previous host Giles Terera will interview Glenda Jackson. Stephen Daldry will be interviewed by Chair of Mountview’s board Vikki Heywood, with whom he previously co-led London’s Royal Court Theatre. The interviews will be broadcast on Mountview’s YouTube channel.
Giles Terera’s Mountview Live with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda is now available to view on YouTube. Terera starred in the first London run of Hamilton and the two discuss their respective careers, as well as answering questions from Mountview students. The session also features a discussion between Terera and Mountview alumni Cleve September and Ellena Vincent, who both previously appeared in Hamilton as well as In the Heights, another Lin-Manuel Miranda show.
Mountview’s joint CEOs, Stephen Jameson and Sarah Preece, commented:
“We’re delighted to have these three great figures participate in the next Mountview LIVE conversations. All of them will bring their insights and experiences from their remarkable careers to these conversations. Everyone at Mountview thanks them for their commitment to Mountview LIVE which reflects Mountview’s commitment to making the performing arts accessible to everyone.”
Brought up in Southall, Kwame Kwei-Armah became the second Black Briton to have a play staged in the West End, with his award-winning piece Elmina’s Kitchen in 2003. Following multiple appearances on stage, television and radio as an actor, including a recurring role in Casualty, Kwei-Armah soon turned his attention to writing, receiving the Most Promising Playwright Award from the Evening Standard in 2003. Following his role as Artistic Director at Baltimore’s Center Stage Theater, he is now the Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theatre in London.
Stephen Daldry is an award-winning Theatre, Film and Television Director & Producer. He has directed many theatre productions, with sold out runs in London's West End & New York's Broadway, winning multiple Olivier & Tony awards. His production of Billy Elliot the Musical has several current tours worldwide. Stephen's 1992 version of An Inspector Calls is the longest running production in the National Theatre’s history and is currently touring the UK. His next play, The Jungle, is about to open at St Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, before it embarks on a US tour. Stephen has directed 5 major feature films which have all been nominated for major film awards. His next feature will be the film version of Wicked, which is currently in pre-production for Universal Pictures. NETFLIX's The Crown, which he serves as Executive Producer, is currently filming Season 4. Stephen is the Chairman of charity Good Chance.
From humble beginnings in Cheshire, Glenda Jackson studied at RADA on a scholarship in 1954. Since then she has won two Academy Awards for Best Actress, two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony. In 1992, Jackson was elected as Labour Party MP for Hampstead and Highgate and went on to serve in the government of Tony Blair. Following a 23-year absence, she returned to acting in 2015 with a series of Radio 4 plays, and later returned to the stage, playing the title role in the Old Vic’s King Lear in 2016, taking the role to Broadway last year. In 2019, she also returned to television in her role in BBC One’s Elizabeth Is Missing.
Mountview LIVE is a series of online conversations with guests discussing their careers, as well as taking questions from Mountview students. Other artists who have taken part are Olivier Award winner Noma Dumezweni, Mountview alumna Amanda Holden and Mountview President Dame Judi Dench.