Due to popular demand and ticket sales, The Yard Theatre has announced an extension to the run of Rhianna Ilube’s debut play, Samuel Takes A Break …in Male Dungeon No. 5 After A Long But Generally Successful Day of Tours. The production is currently previewing (press night 15 February) and will now run for two extra weeks, ending on 23 March.
Directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike, The Yard Theatre’s Deputy Artistic Director, Samuel Takes a Break is a captivating exploration of colonialism’s enduring impact on British Identity. Set in Ghana’s Year of Return in 2019, this genre-defying narrative follows Samuel, a tour guide, and Orange, a ticket officer, as they navigate the historical complexities of Cape Coast Castle, and their contrasting relationship with it. The cast are Fode Simbo, Bola Akeju, Tori Allen-Martin and Stefan Asante-Boateng.
When Trev and Letty, two Black Britons, embark on a journey to rediscover their roots, the fabric of history unravels before their eyes. A reckoning ensues, compelling Samuel to confront deep-seated truths and redefine his relationship with the past. We are the tourists and this is a soul-searching odyssey through time, space, and the inner turmoil of one man’s quest for identity – and a life.
Rhianna Ilube is a playwright and events curator from London. Her debut play, Samuel Takes A Break, was Highly Commended for the Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award, and shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting. She is currently a member of the Soho Six and an alumnus of the Royal Court Intro Group, Oxford Playmakers, BBC London Voices and Omnibus Theatre’s Engine Room. She developed her first TV pilot with Expanded Media for a Sky Table Read in May 2023. Rhianna was previously Associate Director at interactive theatre-makers Coney, where she has written ‘1884’, a new game-theatre show premiering in Spring 2024. She is also a film programmer for BFI Flare and has curated events for cultural venues and NGOs across London and Berlin since 2015.
Director Anthony Simpson-Pike is a director, dramaturg, and writer. He is currently Deputy Artistic Director at The Yard Theatre and was previously Associate Director at the Gate Theatre. Anthony is also a facilitator, having worked with young people and communities at the Gate, the Royal Court, the Young Vic, the Globe, and the National Theatre. Recent directorial work includes the Olivier award-winning The P Word and Lava at the Bush; An Octoroon at the Abbey, Dublin; Living Newspaper at the Royal Court; The Electric for Paines Plough and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama; and The Ridiculous Darkness at the Gate, London
As a dramaturg, Anthony has developed multiple seasons of work for the Gate and The Yard Theatre. Recent dramaturgical credits include Much Ado About Nothing for the RSC; Samskara at The Yard Theatre; Hotline with Produced Moon at the Tron; Dear Young Monster by Pete McHale for The Queer House; and Coup de Grace at the Royal Court. Samuel Takes a Break… is the the first play Anthony has directed at The Yard Theatre.
The creative team includes Set and Costume Designer Milla Clarke, Sound Designer Xana, and Lighting Designer Chris Nairne, alongside Video Designer Gino Ricardo Green, Movement Director Sung Im Her, and Casting Director Jatinder Chera, all of whom recently worked on The Yard’s biggest selling show The Flea.
Fode Simbo plays Samuel. He last performed at The Yard in Dipo Barruwa-Etti’s critically acclaimed An Unfinished Man. Other stage credits include Banquo in Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Globe), Under the Kunde Tree (Southwark Playhouse), Favourite Times (Knock Down Brixton) (Dropdown Theatre), Solaris (Royal Lyceum/Lyric Hammersmith/Malthouse Theatre), The Prince and the Hustler (Eclipse Theatre/Bristol Old Vic), and Young Marx (Bridge Theatre) On television he has appeared in Hijack (Apple TV+), The Reckoning, Virgil, Summer of Rockets, Little Women (all for the BBC) and Philip K Dick’s Electric Dreams – Human Is (Left Bank Pictures). Fode also appeared in the feature film Fisherman’s Friends 2.
Bola Akeju plays Orange. Bola’s stage appearances include School Girls: Or The African Mean Girls (Lyric Hammersmith), Schoolgirls (Almeida Theatre), Klippies (Young Vic) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Consent, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Women of Trachis and The Bassett Table (all at RADA).
Tori Allen-Martin plays Letty. On stage Tori has appeared in Park Bench (Park Theatre), One Man, Two Guvnors (New Wolsey, Ipswich/Nuffield Southampton), The Hardest One (The Other Place/ Criterion), Boxed (Made in LDN Collective), Wretch (Vaults Festival) and Streets (Hackney Empire). Her work in musicals includes Then, Now and Next (Southwark Playhouse), The Season (Glass Half Full Productions and Tim Johanson), Rock of Ages (DLAP Entertainment), Muted (Interval Productions), H.R.Hairth (Iris Theatre), Yarico (John and Jodie Kidd and Crow and Elk), Rent (Interval Productions), Hair – Help for Heroes (Piccadilly Theatre), After the Turn (My Protegee with Interval productions), Hair the Musical (European tour), Hair (arena tour Holland). On television she has appeared in Mrs Sidhu Investigates (Acorn), Significant Other (Hatrick), Plebs: The War (the finale) (Rise films), The Other Half (Ranga Bee Productions), Flatshare (42 for Paramount+), Here We Go (BBC), London Kills (Acorn), Back To Life (Two Brothers Pictures) and Pandemonium (BBC). Other performances include First Things Last: Lance Horne (Lincoln Centre NYC/Spekulation Entertainment), Higher – Eliza and the Bear (recording), The Road Less Travelled – The Take Movie Soundtrack (recording), and Christmas in New York (Manchester Palace and Palace West End).
Stefan Asante-Boateng plays Trev. On stage he has appeared in Eternal Ages: The Musical (Shaw Theatre), Brit Aint Right (Maktub Theatre), Eggs In The Basket (Courtyard Theatre), Choices (tour) and Dancing and Drumming to Doom (Ujaama Arts). His television appearances include This Town (BBC/Kudos), Saw My Baby’s Name (Abigail’s Footsteps) (Inner Eye Productions), Coronation Street (ITV), Killing Eve (Sid Gentle Films Ltd/BBC) and Suffering (Monreel Entertainment). He appeared in the feature film The Fallout and the short films Tina and Meaning (Inner Eye Productions), It Takes A Town (Ebonics Films), Meet Me By The Sea, The Moderator, At Play (Your Cinema films) Grounding (Blame The Consumer), Red Flag (Nort3y Productions), The Other Side and 2 Bags (Red Stream Media).
