Akala:  Artistic Director / Workshop Facilitator

Emerging from London’s hip-hop underground, in 2006 Kingslee “Akala” Daley) won the MOBO “Best Hip-Hop” award for his debut album “It’s Not A Rumour”.  Since then he has released his second album “Freedom Lasso” and toured extensively in the UK and around the world.

He has also found the time to take his own energetic and original workshops all over the country working for clients such as the BBC, London Metropolitan Archives, Times BFI London Film Festival and various schools/youth clubs around the capital.  In his workshops, Akala uses hip-hop to engage young people with subjects such as African culture and history, human rights, racism, history and legacy of slavery and the history of hip-hop.

Since 2008, Akala has been touring and promoting the “Hip-hop Shakespeare” lyric-writing and performance workshops across the UK; from Newcastle, Swindon, Sheffield, Glasgow, Derby, Liverpool, Gloucester to Manchester, Cornwall, Bristol, Aberystwyth and London.   He has also toured the workshop with BBC Blast and as part of the last leg of the 2008 tour, a group of youngsters, directed by Akala, performed a special hip-hop re-working of “Othello”, outside the National Theatre on the South Bank, as part of the Thames Festival.

Last year, Akala released a track entitled ‘Comedy, Tragedy, History’ which he first created in a live freestyle on BBC 1xtra radio station, when challenged to name-check all of Shakespeare’s plays in one rap by DJ “Twin B”.  Please check out: www.akalamusic.com or www.myspace.com/akalamusic for the full biography/more information about Akala.

Role: As the creative driving force of the organisation, Akala is the Artistic Director for all Hip Hop Shakespeare theatre productions, works closely with the THSC team to produce workshop formats and brings in his team at his own record label: Illa State Records to produce any musical elements.

Paul Sherreard:  Creative Consultant / Workshop Facilitator

Paul has been writing and presenting interactive workshops all over the UK and Europe since 1999.  Most recently, Paul has developed workshops and outreach for the BBC, the London Metropolitan Archives and the Times BFI London Film Festival, as well as developing workshops for schools in collaboration with several county and borough councils.

Shez and Akala first worked together in 2007 to create and lead a set of workshops about ‘Freedom and the Legacy of Slavery’ for BBC World Class.  This led to Akala and Shez collaborating once again to create the format of the “Hip-hop Shakespeare” workshop.

Role:  Shez co-presents each workshop with Akala and always looks for new ways to develop the “Hip-hop Shakespeare” workshop format.  Shez’s role also encompasses continuous research & development of all workshop materials ensuring all educational targets are met.

Chanelle Newman:  Project Manager

Chanelle has an extensive background in both the entertainment & legal field and frequently provides project management support to a number of Illa State Records projects (TV & Video production/Touring & Merchandise management)

Role: Chanelle works closely with THSC’s main partner, Arts Council England and deals with securing any finances to fund all THSC projects.  She also represents the company in connection with any partnerships/collaborations, working with them to source schools / youth clubs  in London and the UK to co-ordinate future workshop tours.