Talawa Theatre Company and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) have announced that David Harewood OBE will deliver the inaugural lecture in the new Mona Hammond Annual Lecture Series.
The three-year initiative has been created to honour the legacy of Talawa founder and RADA graduate Mona Hammond OBE, while exploring contemporary issues and future challenges facing the theatre industry.
Taking place on Wednesday 2 September at RADA in London, the first public event is titled Creative Lives in Changing Times: Wellbeing and the Artist.
Internationally acclaimed actor and cultural advocate David Harewood OBE, whose credits include Pierre & Homeland, Othello at the National Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket, and the 2023 BBC Richard Dimbleby Lecture, will explore wellbeing, race, mental health and the realities of working within creative industries.
The lecture will examine what theatre demands from its artists and ask what support the industry should provide in return.
Launched as part of Talawa’s 40th anniversary year and RADA’s 120th anniversary celebrations, the event builds on a roundtable held earlier this year featuring Harewood, Talawa Co-CEOs Michael Buffong and Carolyn ML Forsyth, Talawa Chair Shonagh Reid, RADA Chair Marcus Ryder MBE and RADA Director of Equity Joan Oliver.
The discussions highlighted the impact of financial insecurity and poor mental health across the profession, while exploring how wellbeing and inclusion can be more effectively embedded across the industry.
David Harewood OBE comments, “Theatre changes lives. It changed mine. That is why it is so important that we continue to welcome as many people into the industry as possible and give them the support and conditions they need to thrive, so that the future of the performing arts and creative industries continues to be shaped by rich, diverse and impactful stories. That is why I am so pleased to build on Mona Hammond’s work and honour her legacy through this lecture series, which asks important questions about what comes next.”
The organisers say the lecture series aims to transform remembrance into action by encouraging the theatre sector to consider the kind of future it wants to build for artists and audiences alike.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
