Michael Buffong (born 1964) is an English theatre director and the Artistic Director of Talawa Theatre Company. His work is characterised by reworking stage classics delivered to high degree of detail.[1][2][3][4] Buffong has been described as "one of the most influential directors of classic plays over the last two decades",[5] in addition to being named one of Creative Review's 50 Creative Leaders.[6] In Spring 2019, Buffong was one of the judges of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.[7][8]
Michael Buffong | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1964 (age 59–60) |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Theatre director |
Career
editBuffong was born in Islington, London, in 1964. He attended a director's course at Theatre Royal Stratford East and was later appointed an assistant director there. Buffong then went on to work in television and film and his credits include Holby City, EastEnders, Admin, Placebo, Calais Rules, Doctors, Casualty and Comedy Shuffle (BBC), Hollyoaks (Lime Pictures), Feeling It (Eye2Eye) and Blazed (Channel 4). He has also written and directed the award-winning short film Simple! (Acapulco Film Festival).[9]
He has also been particularly associated with the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, where he has directed at least five plays. Buffong also directed Lenny Henry and Lashana Lynch in the Willy Russell play Educating Rita at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, in 2015.[10][11]
Buffong has been the artistic director Talawa Theatre Company since 2011.[12][13][14] With Talawa, Buffong has most recently directed Guys and Dolls,[15][16][17] King Lear,[2][1][18] All My Sons,[19][3] Moon on a Rainbow Shawl,[20][21][22][23][24] God's Property,[25] The Serpent's Tooth[26] and Passing Wind.[12][27] Buffong has directed Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's A Kind of People at Royal Court Theatre and will also direct the Talawa co-production with Park Theatre (London) of Archie Maddocks's A Place for We in early summer 2020.[28][29]
Theatre Productions
editRoyal Exchange
editHis credits include:[30]
- Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare with Lisa Eichhorn as Ouissa Kittredge, Phillip Bretherton as Flanders Kittredge and O-T Fagbenle (MEN Award) as Paul (May 2004)
- All the Ordinary Angels by Nick Leather (November 2005)
- A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (MEN Award) with Ray Fearon as Walter Lee Younger, Starletta DuPois (MEN Award) as Lena Younger and Jenny Jules (MEN Award) as Ruth Younger (Feb 2010)
- Private Lives by Noël Coward with Imogen Stubbs as Amanda Prynne, Simon Robson as Elyot Chase, Joanna Page as Sibyl Chase and Clive Hayward as Victor Prynne (Mar 2011)
- All My Sons by Arthur Miller with Don Warrington as Joe Keller, Dona Croll as Kate Keller, Chike Okonkwo as Chris Keller, Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Ann Deever and Simon Coombs as George Deever. (October 2013)
- King Lear. Co-production with Talawa Theatre Company with Don Warrington in the title role. (April 2016)
- Guys and Dolls. Co-production with Talawa Theatre Company with Ray Fearon as Nathan Detroit, Lucay Vandi as Miss Adeleide, Ashley Zhamghazha as Sky Mssterson, and Abiona Omonua as Sarah Brown. (December 2017)
References
edit- ^ a b Allfree, Claire (18 May 2016). "Don Warrington's King Lear is a heartbreaking tour de force" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ a b Hickling, Alfred (7 April 2016). "King Lear review – as close to definitive as can be". The Guardian.
- ^ a b Morley-Priestman, Anne (18 February 2015). "All My Sons (Tour) - 'Michael Buffong ratchets up the tension'". WhatsOnStage.
- ^ Hickling, Alfred (8 February 2012). "Waiting for Godot – review". The Guardian.
- ^ "Denis Lawson, Paulette Randall, Hossein Amini, Michael Buffong. Tricky, Jazz Morley, Sara Cox, Clive Anderson, Loose Ends - BBC Radio 4". BBC.
- ^ "Creative Leaders 50". Creative Review. 2017.
- ^ Bowie-Sell, Daisy (5 March 2019). "Jackie Sibblies Drury wins Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for Fairview". WhatsOnStage.
- ^ Bano, Tim (29 July 2020). "Michael Buffong interview". The Stage.
- ^ "Profile | Michael Buffong". Chichester Festival Theatre. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "All-black makeover for classic English tale".
- ^ Brown, Mark (26 February 2015). "Lenny Henry to star in Educating Rita at Chichester". The Guardian.
- ^ a b "Who We Are".
- ^ Wicker, Tom (28 March 2016). "Michael Buffong: 'Putting black actors on stage is the easy bit'". thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
- ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (24 October 2015). "After a century of black British theatre, actors still struggle to take centre stage". The Guardian.
- ^ Gardner, Lyn (7 December 2017). "Guys and Dolls review – swaggering Harlem grit rocks the Broadway boat". The Guardian.
- ^ Treneman, Ann (8 December 2017). "Theatre review: Guys and Dolls at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester". The Times.
- ^ Brennan, Clare (10 December 2017). "Guys and Dolls review – larger than life, but with a core of grit". The Guardian.
- ^ "King Lear Reviewed".
- ^ Hickling, Alfred (2 October 2013). "All My Sons – review". The Guardian.
- ^ Edmonds, Richard (21 February 2014). "Review: Moon on a Rainbow Shawl at Birmingham Repertory Theatre".
- ^ Kellaway, Kate (18 March 2012). "Moon on a Rainbow Shawl; Can We Talk about This?; Shivered – review". The Observer.
- ^ Belindal (18 March 2012). "Theatre Review: Moon on a Rainbow Shawl @ National Theatre". Londonist.
- ^ Hitchings, Henry (15 March 2012). "Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, National, SE1 - review". Evening Standard.
- ^ Billington, Michael (15 March 2012). "Moon on a Rainbow Shawl – review". The Guardian.
- ^ Evans, Lloyd (9 March 2013). "Aversion therapy". The Spectator.
- ^ "The Serpent's Tooth - Exeunt Magazine". exeuntmagazine.com.
- ^ Bosanquet, Theo (13 October 2011). "Talawa Appoints Michael Buffong as New Artistic Director". WhatsOnStage.
- ^ Daniels, Nicholas Ephram Ryan (4 December 2019). "Cast announced for A Kind of People at the Royal Court". London Theatre Direct.
- ^ "A Place for We" at Talawa.
- ^ "Royal Exchange Production History". royalexchangetheatre.org.uk. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2016.