Accra, November 9, 2020. Akoobooks Audio is excited to announce a selection of 17 prize-winning BBC African radio dramas and theatre productions from around the continent will be made available on the AkooBooks platform in collaboration with the Nubuke Foundation as a key sponsor.
This follows the signing of an agreement between AkooBooks Audio and the BBC. The African radio dramas will begin streaming worldwide on November 2, 2020 at https://app.akoobooks.net/genres/71 *.
The BBC broadcast winning plays from the African Performance Competition for five decades from 1960 to 2011. Set up by the late BBC producer John Stockbridge, it nurtured creative talents from Ama Ata Aidoo to Biyi Bandele. BBC African Theatre encompasses a range of themes but sexual and gender conflicts often feature and many plays are deeply political, highlighting the connections between personal anguish and political struggle. The BBC now runs a global competition, called The International Playwriting Competition, with African Dramas in the mix of entries, some of which are included in the selection. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/2009/11/091124_african_performance_history.shtml).
*Note: The African radio dramas are unavailable for listeners in the UK.
“We are thrilled to be able to present these plays to audiences as part of AkooBooks Audios programming, especially during this difficult time which has hit the African theatre community particularly hard,” said Ama Dadson, Founder & CEO of AkooBooks Audio. “We are dedicated to bringing exciting audio experiences to more people, Akoobooks is thrilled to collaborate with the BBC in making an extraordinary lineup available to millions of people worldwide. These African artists and works deserve to be experienced and will undoubtedly entertain and inspire audiences everywhere.”
The BBC Radio International Senior Business Development Manager, Larissa Abid, said: “It’s great to have the opportunity to broadcast a unique selection of BBC African Radio Dramas via AkooBooks Audio. We hope that this selection will resonate with audiences in Ghana and wherever they are in the world, and will be a fascinating source of inspiration for listeners. We look forward to many more years of collaboration with AkooBooks Audio.”
Odile Tevie, Director of the Nubuke Foundation said: “The Nubuke Foundation is excited to be a sponsor of the launch of AkooBooks’ African Audio drama series. Listening audiences can also look forward to a new innovative and immersive audio drama programming event through our collaboration.”
Check out our website and social media channels to find out the complete list of dramas available and news of our upcoming event.
The African Audio Theatre series includes:
- Ghana:The Prison Graduates by Efo Kodjo Mawugbe, 2009 – Directed by Marion Nancarrow, Efo Kodjo Mawugbe’s imaginative and amusing play sees four men trying to make their way in the world after being released from prison in Ghana. They explore their many options, only to choose the one that might have surprised them all. This is where Woza Albert meets Samuel Beckett – a surreal, post-colonial fable, starring Daniel Francis, Richard Pepple, David Gyasi, Mo Sesay and Wale Ojo.
- Nigeria: The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives. Lola Shoneyin’s novel tells of the struggles, rivalries, intricate family politics, and interplay of personalities amongst the four wives of Baba Segi, the pompous patriarch of a well-to-do polygamous Nigerian household. A universal story about women, men and power, dramatised by Rotimi Babatunde, and directed by Femi Elufowoju, Jr. with Patrice Naiambana, Ayo-Dele Edwards, Golda John, Mofetoluwa Akande, Yasmin Mwanza, Kemi Durosinmi, Jude Akuwudike, Sule Rimi
- USA: Their Eyes Were Watching God–Directed by Patrica Cumper Zora Neale Hurston’s ground-breaking 1937 novel was the first publication of an African-American female author. It is dramatised here by the award-winning writer Patrica Cumper. When Nanny catches her 16-year-old grand-daughter Janie kissing Johnny Taylor, she wastes no time in speedily marrying her off to an old, wealthy landowner. It will take Janie three marriages and many years to find the love and freedom she craves.
- – South Africa: The Good Doctor, by Damon Galgut. Idealistic medical graduate Laurence Waters arrives to take up a year’s community service in an isolated South African hospital, in Damon Galgut’s internationally acclaimed novel, which examines post-apartheid South Africa in all its complexity. Recorded on location in Cape Town, it stars Graham Weir, Andrew Laubscher, Faniswa Yisa, Chi Mhende, Cindy Mkaza, Mdu Kweyama, Erica Wessels, Wiseman Sithole and Deon Lotz.
- Uganda: Sunflowers Behind A Dirty Fence by Angella Emurwon– Directed by Rosayln Ward. Angella Emurwon’s story about two friends who discover why sometimes the best things can be hidden behind an unwelcome exterior. Young Yakobo has never been in trouble before – but now he’s lost his grandfather’s favourite photo and, in his desperation to make things right, he decides to take an ill-advised trip to the big city of Kampala.
Starring Arnold Oceng as Yakobo, Vanessa Babirye as Tonnie, Jude Akuwudike as Boss, Cyril Nri as Grandpa, Chike Okonkwo as Askari and Angela Wynter as Mamma and the Cook
The Nubuke Foundation is a visual art and cultural institution based in Accra, serving as a nexus for arts and culture across the country and working to make the appreciation of art, culture, heritage and history accessible to all. https://www.nubukefoundation.org/about.php
AkooBooks Audio is Ghana’s first publisher and digital distributor of Black/African audiobooks. AkooBooks Audio offers a wide range of audio services. Their library of African audio includes, audiobooks, historic and contemporary speeches, spoken word poetry, academic lectures, motivational programs and is available anytime, and accessible anywhere at flexible subscription plans and low retail cost in English and various Ghanaian and African languages.
AkooBooks Audio fosters online discovery of new African voices and African literature for enthusiasts of all ages through their Playlists.
To visit AkooBooks Audio and sample their audiobooks, go to https://app.akoobooks.net/
Contact: Ama Dadson, Founder & CEO, AkooBooks Ltd ama.dadson@akoobooks.com or info@akoobooks.com
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