Showing results by narrator "Lucian Msamati" in All Categories

Orphaned at birth, Oliver Twist is born into the grimmest of 19th century English workhouses with a life of grinding poverty ahead of him. But the boy is a fighter and after being evicted from the workhouse for asking for 'more' and surviving a stint as an undertaker’s assistant, he walks many miles to London and finds a whole new life with a gang of young pickpockets led by the Artful Dodger and their guardian Fagin.

THE TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF THE ECONOMIST'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER From the master storyteller and internationally bestselling author - the story of humanity from prehistory to the present day, told through the one thing all humans have in common: family...

Brought to you by Puffin. The City was built on a sharp mountain that jutted improbably from the sea, and the sea kept trying to claim it back. That grey morning, once the tide had retreated, a whale was found on a rooftop. When a mysterious boy washes in with the tide, the citizens believe he's...

Longlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2023. Two children trapped in the same attic, almost a century apart, bound by a secret. 1907: Twelve-year-old Celestine spends most of his time locked in an attic room of a large house by the sea. Taken from his homeland and treated as an unpaid servant, he...

Lucian Msamati draws on his rich experience, particularly in the context of productions at the National Theatre to delve into sets of challenges and possibilities that actors might face. He offers up his tips on getting started in the industry; navigating the various professional relationships and roles inside a rehearsal room; and offers insights into running your own company and generating your own work.

From his agent's phone call offering him the role of Estragon, Lucian Msamati brings brilliantly to life the experience of co-starring with Ben Whishaw in James Macdonald's celebrated production of Waiting for Godot in London's West End. Through rehearsal room highs and lows, workaday laughs and tears, literal stumbles and grumbles, we journey with Lucian, his fellow actors and creatives, and Beckett's play, sharing in the personal and dramaturgical discoveries they make and the inevitable emotional contours of an experience as intense as this one.

Rex Obano has written for the stage, television, radio and film. His plays have twice been shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award and he received the Roland Rees Bursary in 2018. He is part of the writing team for the BBC Radio series Faith, Hope and Glory and his TV credits include Shakespeare & Hathaway. Included here are five of his acclaimed dramas, as well as a fascinating discussion programme, Black Tudors.

In 2010, the 30th anniversary year of the Independence of Zimbabwe, BBC Radio 4 commissioned two Friday Plays from leading writers. The first play, ‘God's President: Mugabe of Zimbabwe’ by Kwame Kwei-Armah, tells the story of the tense negotiations around the Lancaster House Conference, and...

Charlie, a curious boy with a dangerous Dictaphone habit, eavesdrops on the eccentric guests of the Mirage Hotel as the African nation of Bwalo prepares for the annual appearance of its Glorious Leader Tafumo. Sean, an Irishman who's given his heart (and the best part of his liver) to Bwalo, struggles to write the great African novel - if only his crazed fiancée and fierce thirst would stop distracting him.

Life for Easy is uncharacteristically...easy. He's set up his own agency and is about to propose to his sweetheart, Bonnie. But all that changes when his old friend, Mouse - one of the deadliest men in America - appears at his door, asking for a small favour. The favour is to help the son of a friend of Charcoal Joe who has been wrongly imprisoned. Charcoal Joe is a mythical figure in LA, a man who pulls all the strings but is known to very few.

An ancient myth looms over a powerful new friendship in this debut middle grade fantasy packed with Hugo Cabret charm. The City is the only home that Ellie has ever known. She’s always been told that there is nothing to see beyond the shores of her small, salty island. That is, until a...