Michael Buffong

Michael Buffong is an English theatre director and the Artistic Director of Talawa Theatre Company. His work is characterised by reworking stage classics delivered to high degree of detail.^[1][2][3][4]

Career

Buffong was born in Islington, London in 1964. He attended a director’s course at Theatre Royal Stratford East and was later appointed an assistant director there. He has been the artistic director Talawa Theatre Company since 2011.^[5][6][7] With Talawa, Buffong has most recently directed King Lear,^[8][9][10] All My Sons,^[11][12] Moon On A Rainbow Shawl,^{[13][14][15][16]} God's Property,^[17] The Serpent's Tooth ^[18] and Passing Wind.^[19][20]

He has also been particularly associated with the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester where he has directed at least five plays. Buffong also directed Lenny Henry and Lashana Lynch in the Willy Russell play Educating Rita at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester in 2015.^[21][22][23]

His film and television credits include Holby City, EastEnders, Admin, Placebo, Calais Rules, Doctors, Casualty and Comedy Shuffle (BBC), Hollyoaks (Lime Pictures), Feeling It (Eye2Eye) and Blazed (Channel4). He has also written and directed the award-winning short film Simple! (Acapulco Film Festival).^[24]

Theatre Productions

Royal Exchange

His credits include:^[25]

• Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare with Lisa Eichhorn as Ouissa Kittredge, Phillip Bretherton as Flanders Kittredge and O-T Fagbenle (MEN Award) as Paul (May 2004)
• All the Ordinary Angels by Nick Leather. (Nov 2005)
• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (MEN Award) with Ray Fearon as Walter Lee Younger, Starletta DuPois (MEN Award) as Lena Younger and Jenny Jules (MEN Award) as Ruth Younger (Feb 2010)
• Private Lives by Noël Coward with Imogen Stubbs as Amanda Prynne, Simon Robson as Elyot Chase, Joanna Page as Sibyl Chase and Clive Hayward as Victor Prynne (Mar 2011)
• All My Sons by Arthur Miller with Don Warrington as Joe Keller, Dona Croll as Kate Keller, Chike Okonkwo as Chris Keller, Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Ann Deever and Simon Coombs as George Deever. (October 2013)
• King Lear. Co-production with Talawa Theatre Company with Don Warrington in the title role. (April 2016)

References