The Half God of Rainfall

Rakie Ayola

Modupe

Rakie Ayola plays Modupe. Her theatre credits include Leave To Remain (Lyric Hammersmith), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (The Palace Theatre), The Rest of Your Life (Bush Theatre), King Lear (Royal Exchange/Talawa), Crave/4:48 Psychosis (Sheffield Crucible), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (National Theatre/The Apollo) and The Winter’s Tale (RSC). For television her credits include Noughts and Crosses, Shetland, No Offence and King Lear; and for film, Been So Long, Dredd, Now Is Good and Sahara.

Kwami Odoom

Demi

Kwami Odoom plays Demi. His theatre credits include BOYS (The PappyShow/Vaults), A Christmas Carol (RSC), Queen Margaret (Royal Exchange), Barber Shop Chronicles (National Theatre), DNA, Pigeon English and Romeo and Juliet (National Youth Theatre). For television his credits include The Athena, The Rook and Doctors; and for film, A Family Affair.

Inua Ellams

Writer

Born in Nigeria, Inua Ellams is a poet, playwright & performer, graphic artist & designer. He is a Complete Works poet alumni and a graphic designer at White Space Creative Agency. He facilitates workshops in creative writing where he explores reoccurring themes in his work – Identity, Displacement and Destiny – in accessible, enjoyable ways for participants of all ages and backgrounds.

His creative work has been recognised with a number of awards: The Live Canon International Poetry Prize, The Arts Council of England Award, a Wellcome Trust Award, twice shortlisted for the Brunel Prize for African Poetry, and longlisted for the Alfred Fagan Award, Edinburgh Fringe First Award 2009 and the Liberty Human Rights Award.

He has been commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, Tate Modern, Louis Vuitton, Chris Ofili, BBC Radio & Television. His first three pamphlets of poetry Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales and Candy Coated Unicorn and Converse were published Flipped Eye, and The Wire-Headed Heathen by Akashic Books. Several plays including the critically acclaimed Black T-Shirt Collection and award-winning The 14th Tale are published by Oberon. In 2005, he founded the Midnight Run— an arts-filled, night-time, playful, walking, urban movement that attempts to reconnect inner city lives with inner city spaces.

His play Barber Shop Chronicles has had two sold-out seasons at the National Theatre, and recently toured Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada. In 2019 it will commence a UK tour and a season at The Roundhouse in London.

Nancy Medina

Director

Nancy Medina is originally from Brooklyn NY, and currently based in Bristol.  She is the 2018 RTST Sir Peter Hall Directors Award winner and will be collaborating with Royal & Derngate and English Touring Theatre on a production of Two Trains Running in 2019.  In 2017 she won the Genesis Future Director Award at the Young Vic.  She is an acting tutor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and Course Leader for a post 16 Professional Acting Diploma at Boomsatsuma.

Upcoming projects: Strange Fruit (Bush Theatre) and Two Trains Running (Royal & Derngate /ETT / RTST).

Directing credits include: Collective Rage: A Play In Five Betties (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama); When They Go Low (NT Connections/Sherman Theatre); Yellowman (Young Vic); Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It (GB Theatre); Curried Goat and Fish Fingers (Bristol Old Vic); Dogtag (Theatre West); Strawberry & Chocolate, Dutchman (Tobacco Factory Theatres) and Persistence of Memory (Rondo Theatre).