This year’s JMK Award has been taken home by Kalungi Ssebandeke.
He was chosen to receive the JMK Award for his work on Meetings by Mustapha Matura, which he will now stage as part of the autumn season at the award-winning Orange Tree Theatre.
A director, writer, and actor, Ssenbandeke has numerous credits. He directed Attempts on Her Life for the Bristol School of Acting and the NT Connections play Remote for White City Youth Theatre at Lyric Hammersmith. He also held the role of director in residence at Tonbridge School. His writing credits include Assata Taught Me and Prodigal published by Bloomsbury and Nick Hern Books respectively.
Ssebandeke is no stranger to the Orange Tree; he was seen there in Blood Knot and Prodigal was written for the venue’s Inside/Outside series. On stage, he has also been seen in Othello at The Watermill Theatre.
Kalungi Ssebandeke said, “winning the JMK is one of the major highlights of my creative career. Meetings by Mustapha Matura is such a funny and deliciously thought-provoking play and I can't wait for audiences to get another taste of Mustapha's writing. Getting the chance to return to the Orange Tree, this time as a director rather than performer, is a dream come true.”
The JMK Trust was created in memory of James Menzies-Kitchin, a young director who died suddenly at the age of 28. The annual award is given to a promising director aged 35 or under. Previous winners include Thea Sharrock, Orla O’Loughlin, Bijan Sheibani, Joe Hill-Gibbins, Natalie Abrahami, Roy Alexander Weise, Polly Findlay and Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu.
Meetings by Mustapha Matura, directed by Kalungi Ssebandeke, forms part of the inaugural season of the Orange Tree Theatre’s new artistic director, Tom Littler. Details to be announced.