Leeds Studio

A new Funk and Soul Musical

By Testament and Zodwa Nyoni

Director                    Alex Chisholm

Music Director         Michael Lovelock

Sound Designer      Hazel Plummer

Projection Designer  Pishdaad Modaressi

Costume Assoc.     Madi Omatseone

Production                Simon Brewis

Assoc. Director       Justina Aina

Cast:

Madeline Appiah     Shirley Chisholm

Justina Aina               Carolyn Smith

Ryan Harston           Ron Dellums           

Testament                 Mac Holder

Grant Anthony         George Wallace, Roger

Milly Blue                   Victoria Woodhall, Hillary Clinton

Solomon Gordon    Conrad Chisholm, Black Panther

Kat Govedarica       Student, Drag Queen

David Mitchell          Senator McCormack

Rachel Modest       Michelle Obama

Pauline Tomlin        Barbara Lee, Grandmother

Band:

 Andy Cox                                  Saxophone

Isaac Haywood                      Drums

Caroline Owen                       Violin

Jennifer Pugh                      Guitar

Fergus Quill                             Bass

Malcolm Strachan               Trumpet

Danny Templeman              Percussion

Members of Congress, Black Caucus Members, campaigners, and all other parts played by members of the company.

Young performers (video):

Francesca Alvear

Breagha Bevan

Caleb Bevan

Angela D Hanks

Emmeline Holmes

Dizaya Khupe

Emma Luckado

Morgan Meiklejohn

Grace Tobin

Credits: 

Horn Arrangement on The Hill, Same Old Song and Dance, Chisholm for President & Right Thing To Do by The Haggis Horns.

String & Vocal Arrangements by on Take Your Place Child by Hannah Taylor Jackson.

Motion Graphics by Christian Krupa

Massive thanks to: Alan, Matt, and Joanna at Slung Low, Adem, Becky and all at Southbank Centre, Dermot Daly, Ajo Jones, Mister Gilles Design, Ricky Kershaw and Nicol Garnon.

Chisholm for President! was originally developed via PRS funded Resonance programme at Opera North, further supported by Leeds Conservatoire, and Leeds Playhouse.

Creative Team Biographies:

Testament is an acclaimed rapper, composer, playwright and Guinness World record holding beatboxer. Testament’s work has received praise from voices diverse as Alan Moore, Lauren Laverne, Mark Thomas and the progenitor of HipHop himself, DJ Koolherc.

Experience includes: The spoken word theatre show Orpheus In The Record Shop (Opera North/Leeds Playhouse) which was broadcast on BBC Television, poetry performances for radio and television and writer of celebrated play Black Men Walking (Royal Court Theatre London/Royal Exchange Manchester) – nominated for Best Play at The Writer’s Guild Awards 2019 & Best New Play at the UK Theatre Awards 2020). Testament’s spoken word/beatbox radio play Daughter (Radio 4) received a Special Commendation and a nomination for Best Drama at the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2023. 

As a rapper & composer his work includes the critically acclaimed album Homecut: No Freedom Without Sacrifice (First Word) featuring Grammy winner Corinne Bailey Rae, MOBO winner Soweto Kinch, Mercury nominee TY and US rap legend J-Live.

Screenwriting credits include Castlevania Nocturne (NETFLIX) and rap and spoken word for The Full Monty TV series (Disney Plus). 

Zodwa Nyoni is a playwright, screenwriter, director and dramaturg. She won the Channel 4 Playwrights’ Scheme and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. 

Experience includes: Plays that have been produced across Europe, USA, Zimbabwe and South Africa. She was an international fellow on Oxbelly’s inaugural Episodic Program in Greece. She is currently working on Netflix’s spin-off series, CASTLEVANIA: NOCTURNE;  and is a Lecture in Scriptwriting at Manchester Metropolitan University. 

Alex Chisholm is a director, dramaturg and producer. Her productions include Pick n Mix by Kat Rose-Martin, Nine Lives by Zodwa Nyoni, and Consciencious by Adam Z. Robinson. 

Experience includes: Alex was Co-Artistic Director of Freedom Studios in Bradford 2014-2022. Alex was Associate Director (Literary) at Leeds Playhouse 2001 – 2014. Productions for Leeds Playhouse include Schoolboy/Lover by Richard Cameron, Dust a community play by Kenneth Yates, Mela by Tajinder Singh Hayer, Scuffer and Sunbeam Terrace by Mark Catley, Tender Dearly and Non-Contact Time by Jodie Marshall, Huddersfield by Ugljesa Sajtinac, English version by Chris Thorpe, and two radio programmes in co-production with the BBC: Night Lights and Writing the City. In January 2005 she was invited by Yugoslav Drama Theatre in Belgrade to direct the Serbian Premiere of Huddersfield which ran for over 10 years. 

She is currently Artistic Director of Bradford Opera Festival.

Michael Lovelock is a composer, arranger, and musical director. 

Theatre experience includes: Fame (UK Tour, West End), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (UK Tour), Blood Brothers (UK Tour), My Little Pony (Asia Tour), Saturday Night Fever (Scandinavia), The West End Experience (UK Tour), The Jungle Book (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Love Changes Everything (UK Tour), Carnival Messiah (Royal Albert Hall, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Queens Hall Trinidad, Harewood House), The Wizard of Oz, Annie, Bugsy Malone (Redditch Palace Theatre), The Magic of Eurovision (Holland Tour), A Waiting Room For Journeying Souls (Peepul Centre, Leicester) and Fire in Ice (West Yorkshire Playhouse).

Composer and arranger credits and commissions include: The Demon Barbers, Chisholm 72 (Leeds Studio), Pinocchio (Worthing Theatres, Paul Holman Associates), Mad About The Musicals (UK Tour), the 2009 GB Special Olympics opening ceremony, The Teaching Awards ceremony, Katterfelto (Markmark Productions) and work for the BBC.

Michael is also currently Music Supervisor and General Manager for Paul Holman Associates, overseeing their nationwide roster of 13 Pantomime and Christmas productions.

Hazel Plummer is a freelance sound designer, engineer and production manager working across the creative sector in Yorkshire. She has over 25 years’ diverse experience – managing recording studios, touring shows, teaching studio production at Leeds Conservatoire and running her own arts company.

She is passionate about working with independent and emerging artists, developing work and artists alike, whether creating underwater soundscapes with submersible loudspeakers, recording symphonies with community musicians or weaving traditional music with contemporary elements on works such as The Sound of Tea for Manasamitra and Orpheus in the Record Shop.

Pishdaad Modaressi Chahardehi is a filmmaker based in Bradford, originally from Germany, with a background enriched by Middle Eastern and Asian cultures. His journey in filmmaking has been one of exploration and learning, with a focus on various documentaries that seek to understand and illuminate different narratives. 

Recently, he’s begun to explore the world of digital production design in theatre, humbly bringing his artistic sensibilities to enhance live performances

Madison Omatseone is a performance designer based in West Yorkshire. Her most notable work as a set and costume designer in the Theatre Industry since graduating from Rose Bruford College in 2020 was Pick n Mix (2022) at Kala Sangam, which went on tour to the Pleasance Theatre in London. Her goal is to become a well-known designer for the Theatre and Screen. 

She recently received her first break in the Screen Industry, and plans to use training programs to expand her skill set and advance her career as a costume designer for the screen. Madison likes to go for walks in the stunning Yorkshire Dales and raise her own chickens in her free time.

Simon Brewis is a producer, director, and dramaturge, who makes social theatre. Often collaborating with communities, and working in non-traditional spaces, he has fifteen years of experience making in West Yorkshire. 

Recently he’s been away from theatre to complete a master’s degree in critical and cultural theory, where he learnt lots about intersectional gender, politics, and British imperial histories. Now he’s back in the world of theatre-making he’s looking for opportunities to explore this knowledge creatively in his own work – and to do more producing for others.

Cast Biographies:

Madeline Appiah is stage and screen actress who trained at Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA)t

Experience in theatre includes: Kerry Jackson, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Here We Go; Welcome to Thebes (National Theatre); Tina Turner The Musical (Aldwych); Hamlet (Almeida Theatre/Harold Pinter); The Hotel Cerise (Theatre Royal Stratford); Iyalode of Eti (Utopia Theatre/Rich Mix/Arcola); In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play (St James Theatre); The Duchess of Malfi (Old Vic); Speechless (Shared Experience); Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew (RSC); Off the Endz (Royal Court); Mother Goose (Greenwich Theatre); It Felt Empty When the Heart Went at First… (Arcola/Clean Break); Arabian Nights (New Vic); Dionysis Unbound (Bridewell Theatre); 200 Years, Cinderella (Watford Palace); The Wedding Dance (Birmingham Rep/Tour); Restoration (Oxford Stage Company); I Have Before Me… (Calypso); Brezhnev’s Children (BAC); Ms Ross: The Lady and Her Music (Neptune Theatre).

Experience in TV and Film includes: Jungle, The Box, In the Long Run, Elephant, King for a Term, Partners in Crime, Doctors, Gavin and Stacey, EastEnders, The Bill, Holby City, Boogie Down, Fallout.

Justina Aina is a Performer, Cultural Producer and Director. 

Experience includes: Originating the role of Pat Garratt in the musical Billy the Kid, written by Frost & Hough and a member of Voices Beyond Gospel Collective. Previously she has worked as Associate Producer at Box of Tricks Theatre Company, Production Secretary on The Family Pile (Hat Trick Productions), Associate Producer for YouTuber TommyInnit and Producer at Royal Exchange Theatre.

Experience in TV: Coronation Street, Harlan Corban’s The Five and adverts for Wickes and Asda. Justina has collaborated with Girl Gang Manchester, Black Gold Arts, photographer Jeremy Abrahams and more wonderful makers.

Ryan Harston is a Northern-based actor, dancer, and performer working across multiple disciplines of theatre, television, and film. 

Experience includes: a current staring role as Oedipus in Pecho Mama’s modern-day retelling of the tragedy as well as playing a lead detective in the crime thriller “Skullhunter”, an explosive murder mystery feature film by Hard Work Films & Sollywood productions, which is scheduled to be released later this year. (2024)

Grant Anthony has been in numerous West End shows including ‘Rock of Ages’, ‘Starlight Express’, ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘We Will Rock You’, and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. 

Experience includes: touring ‘Spend, Spend, Spend’; in which he played opposite award winning Actress Barbara Dickson, ‘West Side Story’, ‘Acorn Antiques’; directed by the late award-winning comedian, Victoria Wood; and a European tour of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. Regional credits include ‘Maid Marion’ at the Bristol Old Vic, and at The Chichester Festival Theatre, where he performed in three productions, ‘5/11’, ‘The Government Inspector’ and ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’. He has also performed as a soloist in a Frank Loesser concert for Radio 4. Grant can also be seen in the film of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and heard on the soundtrack for both this and the West End production. He also appeared as a featured soloist in the 25^th Anniversary concert of ‘Chess’, produced by Tim Rice at The Royal Albert Hall, and performed at both the Royal Variety Performance and the Queens Jubilee at Buckingham Palace.

Milly Blue is a singer/songwriter, actor and voice artist.

Experience includes: After appearing in her early years on two series of ITV’s ‘Children’s Ward’ started her musical career as a vocalist for Basement Jaxx when she was a teenager, subsequently guesting on four tracks over two albums with the NME crediting her for her ‘dreamy romanticism’. She has since collaborated with the likes of, amongst others, Andrew Hung (of F*ck Buttons), Natural Self, Shlomo, Guillemots and Fyfe Dangerfield, recorded in Berlin with Noah Slee, performed alongside Kae Tempest, Billy Paul, Percy Sledge and Beck and toured with various acts supporting Scissor Sisters, Erasure and Gary Numan and solo, supporting L7 (Berlin) and Little Dragon (UK). And at the end of 2020, appearing alongside Carly Simon, Jamie Lidell, Vula Malinga and others on Neil Thomas’s track ‘I’m Not Sitting Down’ to raise money for the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Music brought her back into theatre, in Kneehigh associate Dom Coyote’s gig theatre piece ‘Songs for the End of the World’ (National Theatre, Battersea Arts’ Centre, Brighton Theatre Royal) and John Hoggarth’s (NYT) show ‘Fragment’. She has since appeared as The Blue Fairy in Creation T. Her voice has appeared regularly all over BBC radio, TV and iPlayer, Channel Four and Five, Emmerdale and most recently she has been making whale noises for British Airways.’

Solomon Gordon is studying acting at Leeds Conservatoire. Born in Bradford, Solomon began studying acting at age 16 whilst also studying music from the age of 11 years old, gaining multiple qualifications in both sectors. 

Experience includes: Most notable roles include “Sam” as apart of the Leeds Conservatoire production of Suicide and Earl Ross from Aaron Posner’s “Cherry Tortured”, an adaption of Anton Chekovs’ The Cherry Orchard”. He has also hosted events in Bradford surrounding the Windrush Generation, and singing as part of an ensemble for the BBC as well as performing at gigs and wedding events.

Kat Govedarica is from Leeds, currently studying for GCSEs in Drama and Music. Kat is part of 2 bands, Oracle (with LS18 Rocks) and Soundtrack 7. 

Experience includes: Headingley Youth Music Festival, Thorpe Edge Festival, and High School Musical (school production). 

Dave Mitchell is a performer and music educator who teaches ensemble world music drumming around the UK and performs as a vocalist in various bands and musical groups. He has a degree in Popular music studies, loves ethnomusicology, studies Zen, writes poetry and reads philosophy.

Experience includes: Performing musical theatre in the UK and the Caribbean. He holds World Records for co-leading the biggest ensemble drumming groups in both samba drumming and junk percussion. 

Rachel Modest is a Sheffield born singer/songwriter. She is firmly rooted in the styles of Soul/Funk/Dance and Drum n Bass. Rachel’s musical journey began in the church where she learned how to sing with various choirs and many gifted musicians. Rachel went on to study music and became both a music teacher and lead singer of The Bluefoot Project (a Leeds based band signed to Chocolate Fireguard Records). 

Experience Includes:  working with various artists namely Eddie Pillar (Acid Jazz Records), JD73 (ZR Records) and The Magnificent Tape Band (ATA Records). In 2022 Rachel debuted on The Voice UK receiving the coveted four chair-turns and getting down to the final 12 contestants. Her solo singles are released through Numen Records.

Pauline Tomlin is a versatile and intuitive Actress. She trained in Film and Television Acting in both her native Yorkshire and London. When not acting or singing Pauline can be found crocheting, reading,  or walking in her local Park.

TV experience includes: A recent appearance in Coronation Street Ep: 8th April 2024. Since graduating in 2022, she has worked on a variety of projects that include; dramatic and lightly comedic films, Theatre and Voiceover. Including a BBC/Screen South production which aired on BBC 3 and more recently two BAFTA and BIFA shortlisted films. Her most recent roles on Film have included the exploration of the connection between black hair and mental health, produced by Enon Films; A Nurse, a brassy Salon Owner, a Patois speaking Wife and a pushy Entrepreneur.

Theatre experience includes: In 2023 Pauline appeared at the West Yorkshire Playhouse (WYPH) in a production highlighting generational stories and aspects of West Indian Culture, included in their 1001 Stories season and was also selected to depict the wife in a Research and Development project highlighting the story of a black Miner from Leeds, who was one of the seven who tragically died in the 1973 Lofthouse Colliery disaster.