tiata fahodzi announces Chinonyerem Odimba as new Artistic Director and CEO

Photo credit: Sam Harvey

The UK’s leading British-African contemporary theatre company, tiata fahodzi, has appointed Chinonyerem Odimba as its new Artistic Director and Chief Executive ahead of its 25th anniversary next year.

tiata fahodzi produces theatre that is fearless; that looks around  and looks forward. With Odimba at the helm, the company will continue to tell contemporary stories  in modern and innovative ways, celebrating characters defined not by their diversity, but by their humanity.  

Chinonyerem Odimba is a Nigerian British playwright, screenwriter and poet, and is currently Writer-in Residence at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. She also won the 2018 Sonia Friedman Award (Channel 4 Playwright  Bursary).

She said: “This is without a shadow of a doubt one of the most exciting  things to happen in my career! tiata fahodzi is a company I have long admired for all the things it  stands for – a home for British African heritage stories, developing and supporting artists, and a  passion for the most exciting stories that theatre can tell. I feel utterly joyous to lead a company  that has been so fearless and bold since its conception in 1997, and take on this role honouring  the good work that has come before.”

tiata fahodzi exists to tell stories for the Britain of today and tomorrow and has played a key role in advocating to ensure that diversity and representation is central to any recovery plan in the  sector. They were part of the letter from Black, Brown and ethnically diverse leaders to Oliver Dowden; sponsored two Black artists to be part of the Freelance Taskforce initiative; distributed  21 ‘We Got You’ no questions asked first-come first-served grants for freelancers across all  disciplines, and also published 13 commissioned blogs from Black writers.