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Ade Solanke

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Adeola "Ade" Solanke is an award-winning British-Nigerian playwright and screenwriter. She is best known for her debut play, Pandora's Box, which was staged at the Arcola Theatre in 2012,[1] and was nominated as Best New Play in the Off-West End Theatre Awards.[2] She is the founder and creative director of the company Spora Stories, whose aim is to "create original drama for stage and screen, telling the dynamic stories of the African diaspora."[3] Solanke has previously worked as an arts journalist and in radio and television,[4][5] and in 1988 set up Tama Communications, offering a writing and publicity service, whose clients included the BBC, the Arts Council and the Midland Bank.[6]

Early years and education

Of Nigerian heritage, Adeola Solanke was born in London, growing up in Ladbroke Grove in the west of the capital.[7][1][8] She earned an MFA in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where she was a Fulbright Scholar and Phi Beta Kappa international scholar.[2] She also has a postgraduate diploma in Creative Writing from Goldsmiths, University of London, and an honours degree in English Literature from the University of Sheffield.[9]

Career

She worked as a story analyst for several Hollywood companies, including Sundance, New Line and Disney. Her first screenplay, Femi’s Thirtieth, was a semifinalist in the annual Nicholl screenwriting contest in Los Angeles. Her other writing credits include the award-winning BBC Radio drama Westway and the Nigerian feature film Dazzling Mirage.[10] For some years she worked as an arts journalist, writing for publications including The Times Literary Supplement, The Voice, The Guardian, The New Statesman and West Africa Magazine. In 1988 she set up Tama Communications, a writing, research and publicity service "sympathetic to the needs of the voluntary sector and black organisations",[11] that was judged an "outstanding enterprise" in the 1989 London Livewire competition to find the best young business brains.[12][13][14] She has also taught at several universities, among them Goldsmiths, University of London, and Pan-African University, Lagos, Nigeria, as well as at such institutions as London's City Lit[15] and in Zimbabwe at the Institute of Creative Arts for Progress in Africa.[16][17] She teaches Creative Writing at the University of Greenwich.[18]

Her first stage play to be produced, Pandora's Box, which was first showcased in July 2008 as part of Tiata Fahodzi's Tiata Delights at the Almeida Theatre, had its world premiere and sold-out shows at the Arcola Theatre, Hackney, in 2012,[19] subsequently touring nationally in 2014.[7][20] Reviewing it for The Guardian, Lyn Gardner wrote: "Pandora's Box buzzes with life and the tensions of real people struggling to make the best of their lives while dealing with the legacies left from the choices made by a previous generation."[21] Another of several positive notices came from Sarah Lewis of the Hackney Citizen, who described the play as "At times laugh out loud funny, at times heartbreaking....essentially a very moving and funny play. Excellent."[22] Pandora's Box is published by Oberon Books.[23][24]

In 2015, Solanke directed her second play, East End Boys, West End Girls, in a London tour that began at the Arcola Theatre[25] before playing in venues including CLF Arts Cafe in Peckham, the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea, and the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham.[10] Reviews variously described the play as "a grim view of a vast and disparate city...occasionally quite sweet and always earnest"[26] and "thought-provoking....It goes beyond mere entertainment and poses some knotty but ever pertinent questions. The artful Solanke handles the social commentary with sensitivity and intelligence."[27]

Awards and recognition

In 1989, Ade Solanke was named London's Top Youth Entrepreneur for her writing and media business, Tama Communications. In September 2012 she won the award for Best Playwright at the Nigerian Entertainment and Lifestyle Awards.[28]

  • 2012: Pandora's Box nominated as Best New Play for the Off West End Theatre Awards
  • 2014: Pandora's Box nominated for the 2014 Nigeria Prize for Literature.[20]
  • 2015: East End Boys, West End Girls nominated at the 7th Black Entertainment, Film, Fashion, Television and Arts Awards.[29]
  • 2015: Pandora's Box and East End Boys, West End Girls nominated for the 2015 Alfred Fagon Audience Award.[30][18]

References

  1. ^ a b Sophia A. Jackson, "Ade Solanke, Pandora’s Box", Afridiziak, 2 May 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Ade Solanke", Royal Literary Fund.
  3. ^ Spora Stories website.
  4. ^ Doyin Iyiola, "A Lady Titan Abudding", African Concord, Vol. 4, No. 19, 4 September 1989.
  5. ^ Ade Solanke, "How to succeed in business", The Guardian, 20 September 1989.
  6. ^ "Prizewinning communicator goes networking in Atlanta", Caribbean Times, 26 November 1991.
  7. ^ a b Karla Williams, "The London via Lagos interview with Ade Solanke, Pandora's Box", Afridiziak, 9 October 2015.
  8. ^ Sarah Bloomer, "Pandora's Box (Tour - Salford)", What's On, 14 September 2014.
  9. ^ "Ade Solanke" at Black Plays Archive.
  10. ^ a b "East Meets West", ReConnect Africa, July 2014.
  11. ^ "Getting on top of the business", African Times, 27 July 1989.
  12. ^ Tony Maguire, "Meet the Livewire birds", Evening Standard, 7 June 1989.
  13. ^ "Ade's a real live wire", The Voice, Issue 380, 27 June 1989.
  14. ^ "Freelance scoops 1st prize", Freelance (NUJ Freelance branch bulletin), September 1989.
  15. ^ "Humanities", City Lit Summer Courses for Adults, April–July 2008.
  16. ^ "Solanke to work on local film adaptations", NewsDay, 8 July 2014.
  17. ^ "Pandora’s Box, Crucible Studio", Doncaster Free Press, 18 September 2014.
  18. ^ a b "Double theatre award nomination for lecturer", Faculty of Architecture, Computing & Humanities, University of Greenwich, 27 November 2015.
  19. ^ "Press", Spora Stories.
  20. ^ a b "British-African family drama set to open lid on difficulties of family life", Salisbury Journal, 2 October 2014.
  21. ^ Lyn Gardner, "Pandora's Box – review", The Guardian, 15 May 2012.
  22. ^ Sarah Lewis, "Pandora’s Box – review", Hackney Citizen, 22 May 2012.
  23. ^ Pandora's Box (ISBN 9781849434973) at Oberon Books.
  24. ^ "Pandora's Box" (Oberon Modern Plays) at Amazon.
  25. ^ Lyn Gardner, "Plan your week's theatre: top tickets", The Guardian, 27 July 2015.
  26. ^ Tim Bano, "East End Boys, West End Girls" (review), Time Out, 30 July 2015.
  27. ^ Tolita, "Theatre Review: ‘East End Boys, West End Girls’ by Ade Solanke", 8 August 2015.
  28. ^ "Winner: Best Playwright, Nigerian Entertainment and Lifestyle Awards, Sept 2012", Spora Stories.
  29. ^ "East End Boys, West End Girls nominated for Best Script, 2015 BEFFTA AWARDS!", Spora Stories.
  30. ^ Matthew Hemley, "Hang and Play Mas shortlisted for Alfred Fagon Audience Award", The Stage, 1 September 2015.
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