Rikki Beadle-Blair Explained

Rikki Beadle-Blair
Honorific Suffix:MBE
Birth Date:25 July 1961 age 63
Birth Place:Camberwell, London, England
Parents:Monica Beadle
Relatives:Gary Beadle (brother)
Occupation:Actor, film director, writer

Richard Barrington "Rikki" Beadle-Blair MBE (born 25 July 1961) is a British actor, director, and playwright. He is the artistic director of multi-media production company Team Angelica.

Early life

Beadle-Blair was born in Camberwell and raised in Bermondsey, both in south London, by a single mother, Monica.[1] Rikki was brought up with a brother, Gary Beadle (also an actor, of Eastenders fame),[1] and a sister.[1] He attended Lois Acton's Experimental Bermondsey Lampost Free School[1] and, later, Old Vic Youth Theatre.[1]

Career

Beadle-Blair wrote the screenplay for the 1995 feature film Stonewall (dir. Nigel Finch, 1995).[2] He adapted his own screenplay of Stonewall for the stage and his production company Team Angelica, which he took to the 2007 Edinburgh Festival. He also directed, produced, designed both sets & costumes, & choreographed on the show. The play was nominated for "Best Ensemble" at The Stage Awards for Acting Excellence.[3]

In Autumn 2007, FIT, a play for young people commissioned by the Manchester-based arts organisation queerupnorth and the gay equality organisation Stonewall, went on tour around the UK. The play was developed to help tackle homophobic bullying in Britain's schools.[4] Beadle-Blair subsequently adapted it into a film (2010).[5]

Beadle-Blair was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Selected plays

Four one-hour ensemble plays

Radio/Audio

Roots of Homophobia (writer/presenter, Radio 4, 2001) an exploration of Jamaican homophobia.[9] It won a 2002 Sony Best Feature Award.[10]

Whoopsie (writer; directed by Turan Ali for Bona Broadcasting/Radio 4, 2021) - gay comedy-drama, 28 mins.[11]

Scooters, Shooters & Shottas: a Curious Tale (director, written by John R Gordon, a Team Angelica/The Art Machine co-production, 2022) - a 40 minute podcast drama of raucous Black queer lives in 'the endz' of South London.[12]

Team Angelica

In 2011 with long term creative partner John R. Gordon, Beadle-Blair founded Team Angelica Publishing, a queer-of-colour-centric press. Their first book was Beadle-Blair's inspirational What I Learned Today. They have since published gay Somali Diriye Osman's groundbreaking short story collection, Fairytales For Lost Children, which won the Polari prize in 2014,[13] and Gordon's Drapetomania, favourably reviewed in the Financial Times,[14] which won the Ferro-Grumley Award for Best LGBTQ Fiction in 2019.[15] Most recently they published Larry Duplechan's memoir through his love of film, Movies That Made Me Gay (2024).[16]

Publications

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Okundaye. Jason. Rikki Beadle-Blair: the brilliant stage and screen writer who should be a household name. The Guardian. 20 May 2021. 9 January 2024.
  2. Web site: Screen Two: Stonewall. BBC. 10 January 2024.
  3. Web site: The Stage / Edinburgh 2009 . The Stage . 18 March 2010.
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20080707225542/http://www.queerupnorth.com/news_detail.php?ID=562 Article
  5. Web site: Walters . Ben . 2010-11-02 . Fit . 2024-06-10 . Time Out Worldwide . en-GB.
  6. Web site: Peter Bradshaw . Fit – review | Film . 4 November 2010. The Guardian .
  7. Web site: Nott . George . "It represents my biggest stretch" – Rikki Beadle-Blair on his new play, Shalom Baby (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series) . Guardian-series.co.uk . 27 October 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140413142459/http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/leisure/theatre/9330153._It_represents_my_biggest_stretch____Rikki_Beadle_Blair_on_his_new_play__Shalom_Baby/ . 13 April 2014 . dmy-all .
  8. Web site: Lyn Gardner . 7 May 2013 . Gutted – review | Stage . The Guardian .
  9. Web site: Usborne. David. BBC plays 'burn gays' reggae hit. The Independent. 19 August 2001. 9 January 2024.
  10. Web site: Sony Awards 2002 - the winners. BBC. 10 January 2024.
  11. Web site: Whoopsie. BBC Radio 4. 9 January 2024.
  12. Web site: Platforming the untold stories of black queer lives in London, New audio drama Scooters, Shooters and Shottas: a Curious tale announced. 29 March 2023 . 9 January 2024.
  13. News: Somali author Diriye Osman wins Polari Prize. BBC News . 9 January 2024.
  14. News: Drapetomania by John R Gordon — north star rising . . June 1, 2018 . subscription.
  15. Web site: The Ferro-Grumley Awards. 9 January 2024.
  16. Web site: Team Angelica Publishing signs Duplechan's Movies That Made Me Gay. 8 June 2023. 9 January 2024.

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