Black Plays Series: Readings, Muhammed Ali and Me by Mojisola Adebayo

In this enjoyable and informal series, plays by Mojisola Adebayo, Tunde Ikoli and Michael Abbensetts will be read by actors, followed by lively group discussion. Led by Natasha Bonnelame (until recently the Black Plays Archive Project Manager).

Muhammad Ali and Me is a lyrical coming-of-age story, following the parallel struggles of a gay child growing up in foster care and the black Muslim boxing hero's fight against racism and the Vietnam war.

Mojisola Adebayo is a British-born, Nigerian/Danish performer, playwright, director, producer, workshop leader and teacher. Her work is concerned with power, identity, personal and social change. Mojisola teaches in the department of Theatre and Performance at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is an Academic Link for Lasalle, Singapore for Goldsmiths. She teaches on the BA in American Theatre Arts at Rose Bruford College and is studying for her PhD at Queen Mary University of London.

In 2005 she embarked upon writing plays as her primary focus, through her landmark production, Moj of the Antarctic: An African Odyssey (Lyric Hammersmith, Oval House Theatre). Her other plays include Muhammad Ali and Me (Oval House), Matt Henson, North Star (Lyric Hammersmith), Desert Boy (Nitro, Albany and national tour), 48 Minutes for Palestine (Ashtar Theatre Palestine), The Listeners (Pegasus Theatre Company) and I Stand Corrected (Oval House). Her first solo collection Mojisola Adebayo: Plays One is published by Oberon.