The world premiere of Jacob Roberts-Mensah’s DRUM. Sarah Amankwah directs Benjamin Sarpong-Broni (Mike Eghan) and Joshua Roberts-Mensah (James Barnor).
A civilization flourishes when men plant trees under which they themselves never sit.
As the afternoon sun hits BBC Broadcasting House in London, photographer James Barnor meets broadcaster Mike Eghan for the very first time. Thrown together by lives built far from home, the two rising Ghanaian creatives must maneuver through their perception of identity, success, assimilation and home.
This joyful and poignant fiction fuses storytelling, music and dance with archival material to capture a unique snapshot of London in the swinging sixties.
Sarah Amankwah is best known as an actress; she makes her directorial debut in DRUM. Her theatre credits include Lion King (West End) Henry V (Shakespeare’s Globe). Her film credits include Dungeons & Dragons and her television credit include Black Earth Rising.
Benjamin Sarpong-Broni plays Mike Eghan. His theatre credits include, Love Thy Fro’ (Theatre Peckham), Romeo and Juliet (Katzpace Theatre), Brit Ain’t Right (The Courtyard Theatre), Olu (Pleasance Theatre) and Still Barred (Hackney Showroom Theatre). His television credits include Drunk History, Delicious, and for film;The Intent 2, The Young Cannibals, and The Weekend.
Joshua Roberts-Mensah plays James Barnor. He is a British-Ghanaian actor and recording artist from South London and returning to the role of James Barnor after having played several characters in the award-winning audio-drama Dem Times.
DRUM emerged from Engine Room, Omnibus Theatre’s flagship artist support scheme. Engine Room puts the audience, at the heart of the creative process. Following the sharing the audience are asked to complete a feedback form, with their comments directly influencing the next development of the pieces. DRUM then was originally performed as a work-in-progress script-in-hand piece at Camden People’s Theatre in Spring 2022, and the full feature-length play opens at Omnibus Theatre on 9 September with previews from 6 September and runs until 25 September.
Omnibus Theatre, 1 Clapham Common North Side, SW4 0QW
Box Office: www.omnibus-clapham.org / 0207 498 4699
6 – 25 September
Price: £16 standard, £13 concession.
Age guidance: 12+
Duration: 1h10m
