Anni Domingo (born 1950s) is a British actress, director and writer, working in theatre, television, radio and films. She additionally holds positions on the boards of several organisations in various sectors, and has said: "You can't make a difference unless you have a seat at the table." Her writing includes plays, poetry and fiction, with her debut novel ''Breaking the Maafa Chain'' published in 2021.

Background and career

Anni Domingo was born in London, England, to

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

an parents, who when she was four years old decided to go back to their birth country so that their children would grow up with African culture. She attended school in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational an ...

( St Joseph's Convent School and Freetown Secondary School for Girls), going on to further education in the UK, where she pursued an ambition to act. She applied for and was accepted on a drama course to train as a performer, also qualifying in her early 20s as a teacher of Speech and Drama at

Rose Bruford College Rose Bruford College (formerly Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance) is a drama school in the south London suburb of Sidcup. The college has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various discipli ...

, and during her three years studying there she worked for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

Bush House Bush House is a Grade II listed building at the southern end of Kingsway between Aldwych and the Strand in London. It was conceived as a major new trade centre by American industrialist Irving T. Bush, and commissioned, designed, funded, a ...

on radio plays to be broadcast in the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

. When in her mid-50s, over a seven-year period she earned a first-class BA Honours degree in Literature, another BA Honours degree (first-class) in Humanities with Creative Writing from

The Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

, and an MA in Creative Writing from

Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public university in East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins are in the Cambridge School of Art, founded by William John Beamont in 1858. It became a university in 1992, and was renamed after John Ruskin in ...

, Cambridge, later receiving the honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities. Her acting career encompasses theatre, television, radio and film, with on-screen appearances in numerous TV series and feature films ranging from '' Outland'' (1981) to ''

Wondrous Oblivion ''Wondrous Oblivion'' is a 2003 British film directed and written by Paul Morrison and produced by Jonny Persey. Set in suburban south London in 1960, several themes run through the film, though the main storyline concerns the friendship betwe ...

'' (2003). More recently, in 2019 she appeared in several episodes of

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

's '' EastEnders'', and on stage in

Inua Ellams Inua M. M. Ellams (born 23 October 1984) is a UK-based poet, playwright and performer. Work Ellams has written for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre and the BBC. In June 2018, Ellams was elected as a Fellow of the ...

' adaptation of '' Three Sisters'' at the National Theatre. Her theatre work over the years has included ''

Blood Wedding ''Blood Wedding'' ( es, link=no, Bodas de sangre) is a tragedy by Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1932 and first performed at Teatro Beatriz in Madrid in March 1933, then later that year in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ...

'' at the National, ''Treasure Island'' at

Birmingham Rep Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...

, ''The Last Bloom'' at

Traverse Theatre The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco. The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary p ...

, ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as an ...

'' at

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

, '' The Children's Hour'' and ''

Yerma ''Yerma'' is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1934 and first performed that same year. García Lorca describes the play as "a tragic poem." The play tells the story of a childless woman living in rural ...

'' at the Royal Exchange, '' Blithe Spirit'' at the Leicester Haymarket, and ''No Boys Cricket Club'' at

Theatre Royal Stratford East The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood, whos ...

. Among other work that Domingo undertakes is radio broadcasting, as well as lecturing (at such institutions as

St Mary's University, Twickenham , mottoeng = Show Thyself to be a Mother , established = 1850 (as St Mary's College)2014 (gained university status) , type = Public university , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic , endowment ...

, and Rose Bruford College) and directing at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sena ...

(RADA), the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

) and elsewhere, recent productions being ''Ilé la Wà'' ("We are Home") by Tolu Agbelusi at

Stratford Circus Stratford Circus is a contemporary performing arts venue in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham, east London. It was designed by Levitt Bernstein architects and built with funding from the National Lottery, and has been operated by th ...

in 2019, and ''The Story of John Archer'' at

Battersea Arts Centre The Battersea Arts Centre ("BAC") is a performance space specialising in theatre productions. Located near Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, it was formerly Battersea Town Hall. It is a Grade I ...

in 2021. As a Shakespearean actor, Domingo has toured extensively in Europe, the US and Australia. She started a company called Shakespeare Link through which she runs workshops on

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

in schools, youth clubs and theatres, and she has written several workbooks on Shakespeare that are used in schools. She has also written children's plays, short stories and poetry, and her poem "The Cutting" is published in the text of ''Bullet Hole'', a 2018 play about

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

, in which she played the lead role at the Park Theatre. Domingo's debut novel, ''Breaking the Maafa Chain'', was shortlisted in the 2014 Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize, won the 1918

Myriad Editions Myriad Editions is an independent UK publishing house based in Brighton and Hove, specialising in topical atlases, graphic non-fiction and original fiction, whose output also encompasses graphic novels that span a variety of genres, including ...

First Drafts Competition, is extracted in Margaret Busby's 2019 anthology ''

New Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...

'', and was published by Jacaranda Books in 2021. ''Breaking the Maafa Chain'' is an "epic historical novel" based on the true story of

Sarah Forbes Bonetta Sara Forbes Bonetta, otherwise known as Sarah Forbes Bonetta, (born Aina or Ina; 1843 – 15 August 1880), was ward and goddaughter of Queen Victoria. She was believed to have been a titled member of the Egbado clan of the Yoruba people in W ...

, an abolitionist and goddaughter of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. In 2019, Domingo won a place at Hedgebrook, a retreat for women writers, and on the National Centre for Writing's "Escalator" programme, enabling her to begin working on her second novel, ''Ominira''. She was awarded a Harold Moody Postgraduate Research Studentship, launched in 2021, to undertake a PhD at King's College London, investigating how black Victorians have been portrayed in literature based on the media 1850–1880. Domingo is a trustee of Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, and is a member of the board of Sheffield Theatres Trust. She also has voluntary roles with other initiatives particularly concerned with improving diversity and inclusion in the creative industries. In January 2022, she was appointed chair of

Theatre Peckham Theatre Peckham is a community theatre in Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had ...

, one of London's leading community-led theatres and learning academies, with the company's patrons including

John Boyega John Adedayo Bamidele Adegboyega (born 17 March 1992), known professionally as John Boyega, is a British actor and producer. He first rose to prominence in his native Britain for his role as Moses in the sci-fi comedy film '' Attack the Block ...

Jenny Agutter Jennifer Ann Agutter (born 20 December 1952) is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in '' East of Sudan'', ''Star!'', and two adaptations of '' The Railway Children''—the BBC's 1968 television seria ...

and

Paulette Randall Paulette Randall, MBE (born 1961) is a British theatre director of Jamaican descent.

Other activities and personal life

Domingo has three children and, alongside working in the arts, has served as a magistrate in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

Bibliography

* ''Breaking the Maafa Chain'', London: Jacaranda Books, 2021, hardcover , paperback . US: Pegasus Books, 2022, .

Selected awards and recognition

* 2014: Shortlisted in the Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize (''Breaking the Maafa Chain'') * 2015: BEFFTA Lifetime Achievement Award * 2018: Joint winner (with Rutendo Chabikwa) of

First Drafts competition

References

External links

"Breaking The Maafa Chain: an interview with Anni Domingo"
Versus History Podcast.
"Anni Domingo on the writing of Breaking the Maafa Chain"
National Centre for Writing, 18 March 2021. {{DEFAULTSORT:Domingo, Anni 21st-century British novelists 21st-century British women writers Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University Alumni of Rose Bruford College Alumni of the Open University Black British actors Black British women writers British women novelists English people of Sierra Leonean descent English Shakespearean actresses English soap opera actresses English stage actresses English television actresses People associated with Rose Bruford College People of Sierra Leone Creole descent Writers from London 1950s births Living people