Topher Campbell

Topher Campbell
File:Topher Campbell by Red Room Ajamu.jpg Topher Campbell
Alma mater	University of Sussex
Occupation(s)	Film director, Theatre director, screenwriter

Topher Campbell is a director of film, television and theatre. He is also a writer and social commentator and part- time actor. He is currently the artistic director of The Red Room Theatre Company and chair of the Independent Theatre Council UK. He is a recipient of the 2005 Jerwood Directors Award and is also a founder member of Justice for Gay Africans and a co-founder of rukus federation ltd.

Career

rukus! Federation

In 2000, alongside artist/photographer Ajamu, he set up rukus! Federation Ltd. A company dedicated to presenting the best in work by Black Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual, Transgender (BLGBT) artists, rukus! projects include the play Mangina Monologues and the UK’s first and only BLGBT Archive now housed at the London Metropolitan Archive. In 2008 rukus! received the Archive Landmark Award by the London Metropolitan Archives.

rukus! remains the only black led arts organization in the UK and is committed to raising the profile of Black Lesbian Gay and Transgender people in the UK and throughout the diaspora.

Film work

Topher’s short films The Homecoming and Mulatto Song have been shown worldwide. In This Our Lives, Topher’s first documentary, premiered at the London Lesbian and Gay film Festival in 2009.

Writing

Topher has written articles for Sable, AXM Magazine, Gay Times, and Attitude Magazine. He has also been featured in the Guardian, the Stage, Gay Times, Broadcast, Attitude Magazine and QX Magazine.

Topher is currently a regular contributor to The Guardian on Black Gay contemporary life and history.

Oikos Project

As Artistic Director of The Red Room Theatre and Film Company, Topher created the groundbreaking Oikos Project together with Bryan Savery. The Oikos Project focused around the creation of a public piece of art work, the Jellyfish Theatre, and attempted to address climate change in a local way. Martin Kaltwasser, a German based architect, was commissioned by the Red Room to create the Jellyfish Theatre totally from reclaimed materials. The theatre was eventually built by Kaltwasser and over 100 volunteers. Two plays were also commissioned and performed in the theatre.

Television

• Doctors (soap opera)
• EastEnders
• Invisible (2012) - Channel 4

Radio

• Talking Huck Finn (2001) - BBC Radio 4
• Facing Leicester Square (2002) BBC Radio 3

Plays

• Blood Knot (Derby Playhouse) (1990)
• Woza Albert (1991)
• Necklaces (Talawa Theatre Company) (1992)
• Flamingo Theatre London (1992)
• Moor Masterpieces (West Yorkshire Playhouse) (1996)
• Wicked Games - (West Yorkshire Playhouse) (1996)
• Good Copy - (West Yorkshire Playhouse) (1996)
• Jar the Floor - (West Yorkshire Playhouse) (1997)
• Pantheaon of the Gods - (Young Vic Theatre) (2001)
• Dead Funny - (Nottingham Playhouse) (2001)
• Unstated (2008)
• Oikos (2010)
• Protozoa (2010)

Filmography

• The Homecoming
• A Mulatto Song
• Don’t Call Me Battyman
• In this Our Lives The Reunion
• Invisible (2012) - Channel 4

As Actor

• Oh Happy Day - Randy
• Stud Life

As Writer

• Coloured Boys

As Executive Producer

• Oikos, a Journey in Wood (2010)

Awards

• Jerwood Directors Award (2005)
• London Metropolitan Archove Award (2008)
• Small Projects Award (2010)
• Nominated for the Urban Intervention Award 2010
• Nomination for the AKA Theatre Event of the Year Award

External links

• The Guardian: Jelly Fish Theatre
• The Guardian Profile: Topher Campbell
• The Telegraph: Topher Campbell on the Jellyfish Theatre
• The Guardian: Public Inquiry
• UK Black Pride: Topher Campbell
• The Red Room: Topher Campbell
• The BFI: Topher Campbell
• Topher Campbell ITC Chair

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