Interview With a Lewisham Legend
One of the most exciting writers around right now is Ryan Calais Cameron, who has pushed against boundaries and smashed down the elitist walls of theatre to have two hits in the West End. He is now on the cusp of going to Broadway, writes Michael Holland.
One of six children, Ryan grew up in Lewisham in the bosom of a loving and supportive family ‘where you were allowed to dream’. At school, he enjoyed Drama and English: ‘Writing was where I could really express myself,’ he says, adding that he didn’t realise then that those lessons would have carried him so far.
When Ryan left, he took up a career in electrical engineering that, after four years, he came to despise, so he chose to take a drama degree at Bournemouth University. His parents were fine with his decision even though there was no way of knowing their son would be so successful.
I wondered why he did not go to one of the many great acting establishments in London. ‘For me, he begins, ‘I wanted to get as far away from Lewisham as I could, from some people and the things they were doing, plus to get life experience… It was a massive choice for me because at 19 I had never left my area before!’
After focussing on university for three years, Ryan graduated and pretty much worked steadily in TV and theatre – in top productions – for some years.
He spoke of the people who inspired him: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, and the award-winning writers Debbie Tucker Green and Roy Williams, who Ryan now sees regularly but still has that Fanboy feeling when Williams says encouraging things about Ryan’s work.
But that industry is not an easy ride. In the early days, Ryan would email his favourite actors and ask for advice. Jimmy Akingbola returned a Facebook message, calling him down to his Monologue Slam, which, perhaps with the advice Ryan had taken on board, he won. Clint Dyer was there and told Ryan to audition for his play at the Royal Court. He got one of the lead roles.
These steps to stardom were not lucky. These are examples of a young actor making his luck by knocking on doors, walking through them and then producing the goods.
Eventually, the time arrived for the young actor to take up the pen. He explains the change: ‘My imagination was a lot bigger than the work I was being offered and in the end I wasn’t excited by acting any more, it had become just a job.’
Ryan struggled with the acting work offered because it conflicted with his ideas of what being black and British and working-class were. ‘I’d hear better stories going to the barber shop,’ he claims. ‘And I thought that if I can create stories for the people I meet on my street, then I’m positive I can get those people into the theatre.’
Along with like-minded friends, he co-founded Nouveau Riche to tell the stories they wanted to tell, never knowing if they would be successful or not. They were.
Another good break came when he co-adapted Jessica L. Hagan’s book Queens of Sheba for stage and took it to the Edinburgh Fringe. ‘We sold out every night,’ Ryan recalls while reliving the dream. ‘We were on front pages, TV people came!’
Could the sound of an audience clapping draw him back? ‘Since I’ve been writing, I do get that little bug now and then, but it’s the auditions that stop me going back… If someone offered roles specifically for me, I might jump back in but, no, not now.’
Couldn’t he write something for himself? I asked. ‘I could, but I feel that’s greedy; plus, I’d wanna be so hands-on I would make it the worst production.’ His words tail off with a knowing laugh.
The writer had experience of people saying they liked his work but were put off because, he was told, “black working-class don’t go to the theatre”, but I really thought they would if there was something that would resonate with them.’ Ryan takes a breath before continuing. ’It’s not rocket science, if we can put something on that reflects their truth, their environment, they’d turn up.’
Ryan was right because 800 young, black, working-class were buying tickets every night for his West End hit “For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy”.
And to help break down the barriers, Ryan had the ticket prices slashed to make them realistic and affordable.
Ryan hopes to do the same when his latest play, Retrograde, transfers to the West End in March. A play about when a young Sidney Poitier is about to sign a career-defining Hollywood contract that could make him a star. But there’s a catch. Will he put his career before his principles? In a time of betrayals, will he name names? Will he sign his life away?
Ryan was writing about a time way before his.’It meant immersing myself in a whole other universe that I’ve never been to before; it was an immense amount of research, but it was exciting to learn about somebody’s life.’ Ryan was now on a Poitier role. The Hollywood legend was one of his early inspirations. ‘The level of research I’ve been able to do meant I knew him so much better, and he became more of a hero to me. I felt like I’d met him and knew him, like he was family!’
Ryan went graciously on to praise Ivanno Jeremiah, the actor who brings Poitier to life every night, and Amit Sharma, who has put things into his direction of the play that Ryan reveals he would never have thought of.
Our time was ending, and I was left with the feeling of having met a nice man, a focussed man, a family man, a man who smiles a lot and who deserves everything that is coming his way.
Ryan Calais Cameron is now in a position to plan ahead for himself, and he implies that some special things are coming to our screens in the future.
But for now, let’s get our tickets for Retrograde.
Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, W1 from Saturday 8 March – Saturday 14 June 2025
Box Office: www.nimaxtheatres.com / 0330 333 4809
