Joe Guy

Joe Boateng, the 'David Beckham' of his generation, is Ghanaian.
Naomi, his childhood sweetheart is British and of Jamaican parentage.
With Joe's escalating celebrity status comes huge sacrifices,
accusations of selling out, temptations and life changing choices.

Joe Guy is a stark and powerful contemporary story
exploring the historical tension and bitter prejudices existing between
African and Caribbean British communities. It looks at how young
descendants from Africa distance themselves from a unified urban Black
Britain. This urgent examination of identity and celebrity is told in
Tiata Fahodzi's renowned visceral style.

This is a programme text edition published to coincide with the
play's world premiere in a production by Tiata Fahodzi that opens at
the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich,on 18 October before coming to Soho
Theatre, London.

Auteur

Roy Williams, OBE, worked as an actor before turning to writing full-time in 1990. He graduated from Rose Bruford in 1995 with a first class BA Hons degree in Writing and participated in the 1997 Carlton Television screenwriter's course. The No Boys Cricket Club (Theatre Royal, Stratford East, 1996) won him nominations for the TAPS Writer of the Year Award 1996 and for New Writer of the Year Award 1996 by the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. He was the first recipient of the Alfred Fagon Award 1997 for Starstruck (Tricycle Theatre, London, 1998), which also won the 31st John Whiting Award and the EMMA Award 1999. Lift Off (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1999) was the joint winner of the George Devine Award 2000. His other plays include: Night and Day (Theatre Venture, 1996); Josie's Boys (Red Ladder Theatre Co., 1996); Souls (Theatre Centre, 1999); Local Boy (Hampstead Theatre, 2000); The Gift (Birmingham Rep/Tricycle Theatre, 2000); Clubland (Royal Court, 2001), winner of the Evening Standard Charles Wintour Award for the Most Promising Playwright; Fallout (Royal Court Theatre, 2003) which was made for television by Company Pictures/Channel 4; Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (National Theatre, 2002, 2004), Little Sweet Thing (New Wolsey, Ipswich/ Nottingham Playhouse/Birmingham Rep, 2005), Slow Time (National Theatre Education Department tour, 2005), Days of Significance (Swan Theatre, Stratfordupon- Avon, 2007), Absolute Beginners (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, 2007), Joe Guy (Tiata Fahodzi/Soho Theatre, 2007), Baby Girl (National Theatre, 2007), Out of the Fog (Almeida Theatre, 2007), There's Only One Wayne Matthews (Polka Theatre, 2007), Category B (Tricycle Theatre, 2009) and Sucker Punch (Royal Court, 2010). He also contributed A Chain Play (Almeida Theatre, 2007) and Sixty Six (Bush Theatre, 2011). His screenplays include Offside, winner of a BAFTA for Best Schools Drama 2002. His radio plays include Tell Tale, Homeboys, Westway, which was broadcast as part of Radio 4 First Bite Young Writers' Festival, To Sir with Love, and The Interrogation. He also wrote Babyfather for BBC TV. He was awarded the OBE for Services to Drama in the 2008 Birthday Honours List.

Résumé
Joe Boateng, the 'David Beckham' of his generation, is Ghanaian.Naomi, his childhood sweetheart is British and of Jamaican parentage.With Joe's escalating celebrity status comes huge sacrifices,accusations of selling out, temptations and life changing choices.Joe Guy is a stark and powerful contemporary storyexploring the historical tension and bitter prejudices existing betweenAfrican and Caribbean British communities. It looks at how youngdescendants from Africa distance themselves from a unified urban BlackBritain. This urgent examination of identity and celebrity is told inTiata Fahodzi's renowned visceral style.This is a programme text edition published to coincide with theplay's world premiere in a production by Tiata Fahodzi that opens atthe New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich,on 18 October before coming to SohoTheatre, London.