Staff Profiles
Lucian Msamati, Artistic Director
Lucian was born in the UK to Tanzanian parents and raised in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malawi and very briefly Iraq (yes, it’s true); Lucian is something of a ‘Pan-African-Pan-Internationalist.’ Though Tanzania is very much the Msamati ancestral home, Lucian considers Zimbabwe his spiritual home having spent the better part of his formative life there.
He is reliably informed (by no less an authority than his own mother) that it was round about the age of three that he first confidently declared; ‘I want to be actor!’ Barring a prepubescent (and adolescent, and post adolescent and pre-post middle age) dream to fly down the wing for his beloved Liverpool Football Club, the dramatic arts have always been his passion. On the eve of his enrolment to read modern languages at the University of Zimbabwe in 1994, Lucian and several close friends formed Over the Edge – Zimbabwe’s first multiracial professional theatre company. Over the next decade they gained national, regional and international acclaim for their witty, satirical original material and their adaptations of African and Western classics. Notable successes include their 5-man adaptation of Twelfth Night (2000) for which Lucian earned a Stage Newspaper ‘Best Actor’ Nomination and their original piece Born African (2001-2004) which they toured across the UK, Southern Africa, Europe and the United States. As his ‘day-job’ Lucian worked as an advertising copywriter, Radio presenter and Voice Artist. In 1999 he was presented with a special award for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Medium of Radio’ by the Creative Director’s Forum of Zimbabwe. It was whilst appearing in Born African at the BAC Time Out Critic’s Choice Season in 2003 that Lucian was invited to audition for Antony Sher’s ID at the Almeida; the rest as they say is history…
Perhaps most widely known as JLB Matekoni in the BBC/HBO TV adaptation of The Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency, Lucian has enjoyed great success in some of the countries most renowned theatres alongside some of the most acclaimed theatre practitioners of our time. His writing and co-writing credits include Eternal Peace Asylum (1999), Born African (2001-2004) and Zuva Crumbling (2008).
Thomas Kell, Administrative Director
Thomas joined Tiata Fahodzi in January 2007 after several years as Theatre Centre’s Administrator. He is the Chair of Pursued by a Bear Theatre Company which supports and tours new theatre writing from its base in Farnham, Surrey.
Femi Elufowoju, jr, Founder
British born to Nigerian parents, Femi first performed in theatre at age 10 in a school production of Jack and the Beanstalk as the Ogre. His family moved to Nigeria when he was at the age of 12 and he subsequently prepared to be a solicitor for the Federal Supreme Court of Nigeria before finding his element in the dramatic arts. Femi studied for three years at Bretton Hall, Leeds University and then worked for six years as an actor, performing at the National, Royal Court and making radio plays for the BBC. In 1996 he trained as a Regional Theatre Young Director at Theatre Royal Stratford East before forming Tiata Fahodzi in 1997. His credits as a Director for Tiata Fahodzi include Iya-Ile, Joe Guy, The Estate, The Gods are Not to Blame, and national tours of Abyssinia, Makinde and Bonded. His other theatre credits include Bone for the Royal Court, Medea and Off Camera for West Yorkshire Playhouse, Dealer’s Choice for Salisbury Playhouse, Tickets & Ties and It’s Good to Talk for Theatre Royal, Stratford East. At Christmas 2008 he was Associate Director for Cinderella at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich. He continues acting, recently to be seen alongside Indira Varma and Dennis Waterman in the BBC thriller Moses Jones. Femi lives in London with his three young children Oluwashanu, Elushade and Oluwashayo. Femi left Tiata Fahodzi in April 2010 for a freelance career. He is currently Associate Artist at the Almeida Theatre.