The Melanin Box Festival – the first UK festival dedicated to the multi-disciplinary work of Black British creatives – is returning this August to Theatre Peckham.
On August 4 and 5, the festival will celebrate new talent and all forms of performance art, from theatre, film, music, and dance, offering prizes such as a £400 development bursary, a professional showreel, and quality headshots, or an acting masterclass.
The art duo initiative.dkf, made up of Damilola DK Fashola and Wofai, organised the festival in order to expand the narrative of what it means to be black and British.
“Melanin Box Festival is an opportunity to tell our varied stories from our own mouths and celebrate black British talent in Britain – not once they’ve blown overseas,” said Damilola DK Fashola.
“There has always been a scarcity of roles and opportunities for black creatives in stage, television and film.”
“When you look at the British industry especially, we see our most known artists only being truly recognised once overseas,” said Wofai. “Melanin Box Festival is our response to this.”
The Melanin Box Festival’s 2015 debut at the Bussey Building sold out, and it featured participants such as Seraphina Beh from Eastenders, Kayode Ewumi from #HoodDocumentary (which spawned the infamous Roll Safe meme), and Tobi Bamtefa from Tin Star.
This year, the festival will feature Laurence Olivier Award-winning playwright Bola Agbaje, and a film that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, The Right Choice, directed by Tomisin Adepeju, as well as Ruth Brown, a semi-finalist from The Voice UK.
Tickets are £15 for one day, or £25 for both days, and can be purchased here.
More information and full lineup on the website, here.