Anton Cross (As You Like It, Stig of the Dump, Gentlemen of Verona – all Storyhouse Summer season 2016, Chester) has been cast in Arinzé Kene’s good dog which will open at Watford Palace Theatre before touring to Hexham, Manchester, Huddersfield, Didcot, Newcastle, Ulverston, Birmingham and London.

Delicately observed and fearlessly told, good dog chronicles Britain’s multicultural communities and the everyday injustices that drive people to take back control. Kene’s initial inspiration for good dog stemmed from a desire to imagine what drove his friends and community to riot in the summer of 2011 – in London and beyond – but it has become a chronicle of a community struggling to survive and fighting back.

Natalie Ibu, director of good dog, comments, Anton is a gifted graduate actor. He’s thoughtful yet playful and this matched with the exhilarating craft of Arinze’s writing will make for an entertaining night full of courage, vulnerability, humanity as Anton takes us back through the noughties as boy.

The tour announcement comes at a pertinent time. On 5th December, the BBC aired ‘Lawful Killing’ - a 90-minute documentary with dramatic reconstructions of the police shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham in August 2011. The incident triggered the country’s worst riots in living memory, the impact of which extended far beyond the Duggan family and the community of Tottenham. Duggan’s shooting continues to resonate more than five years after it occurred.

Arinzé Kene (star of critically acclaimed sold out One Night in Miami at the Donmar Warehouse and BIFA nominee for Best Supporting Actor in The Pass) returns to writing for theatre for the first time since God’s Property in 2013. In this vivid, high-energy monologue, Kene tells of community, growing up in a diverse area unified by class and survival, and what happens when you lose faith in being good.

When prejudiced voices are amplified, the arts must remind us of the humans obscured within the propaganda storm. good dog is a clear human voice which tells those important intimate stories in a troubled landscape.

good dog is a true epic - spanning multiple characters, families and years. This richly imagined, political and personal piece of theatre introduces an overlapping network of rich characters and stories that explore significant issues for today such as social decay, institutional racism, drug abuse and bullying.


Performance Dates 14th – 18th February 2017 - Watford Palace Theatre
Tuesday – Saturday, 7.30pm
Saturday matinee, 2.30pm

21st February – Queens Hall Arts Centre, Hexham
22nd – 23rd February – Lowry, Manchester
24th February – Lawrence Batley Theatre, Hudersfield
25th February – Cornerstone, Didcot
1st March – Live Theatre, Newcastle
3rd March – Cornational Hall, Ulverston
4th March – mac, Birmingham
7th – 11th March – The Albany, Deptford

Running time tbc

Twitter @tiatafahodzi, #goodtiata

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUH3IwfGtYI

Playwright Arinzé Kene
Actor Anton Cross
Director Natalie Ibu
Designer Amelia Jane Hankin
Sound Designer Helen Skiera
Producer tiata fahodzi in association with Watford Palace Theatre

Notes Ages 12+

Box Office Tickets are available from individual theatre box offices


Anton Cross

Since graduating from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in 2015, Anton made his theatrical debut as Frank in the world premiere of Arthur Millers No Villain (Old Red Lion Theatre). Anton was most recently a part of the Storyhouse company for their 2016 Summer repertory season where he led as Barney in a brand new stage adaptation of Stig of the Dump (written by Jessica Swale) as well as playing Le Beau & William in As You Like It and an Outlaw in Two Gentlemen of Verona. Other theatre credits include: Stoney Fruit (Fine Mess Theatre), Elizabeth (High Tide Theatre Festival), John Blanke and Young Marlow in She Stoops to Conquer, Worcester in Henry IV Part I (LAMDA).

Arinzé Kene

Arinzé Kene was most recently seen taking his talents to the West End stage, starring as the lead in the much anticipated One Night In Miami at the Donmar Warehouse, playing soul singing legend Sam Cooke. Kene has also just finished filming on the new NETFLIX ORIGINAL series Crazyhead – a gripping comedy about demon hunters, where Arinzé plays series regular Tyler.

2016 saw the release of J. K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (a spin-off of the Harry Potter series), directed by David Yates, in which Kene played Auror Johnson, a detective of the dark magic underworld. Arinzé also played the role of Ade in the Duncan Kenworthy (Love Actually, Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral) produced film The Pass opposite Russell Tovey.

After Kene was named on the Screen Internationals ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ list for 2013, he went on to star as Ashley in E4 series Youngers (reprising his role and joining the BigTalk story-linging team for the second season in 2014). Kene was then cast as series regular Corporal Kinders in BBC’s well-reviewed drama series, Our Girl.

As a playwright, Kene’s plays have been staged at theatres including The Bush Theatre, mac Birmingham, and Soho Theatre.

Natalie Ibu

Natalie Ibu is the artistic director of tiata fahodzi. Previously she was the Creative Producer for In Good Company, launching the regional artist development programme in the East Midlands for Derby Theatre, Embrace Arts Leicester and Create Mansfield. As a freelancer she has produced for Openworks Theatre and Maison Foo, worked as a Literary Consultant for Fifth Word and a dramaturg for Spilt Milk Dance. In 2014, she was the Programme Manager at the Roundhouse. In 2012/13, she was the Creative Producer for Only Connect, producing a season of cross art-form work. In 2010/11, she was the inaugural Associate Director (Warehouse) for HighTide Festival Productions – responsible for the artist development and a physical research and development studio. In July 2009, she completed a year’s residency at the Royal Court as their Trainee Director. Since graduating with a First Class Honours degree in 2004, she has completed short-term residencies with New York Theatre Workshop, the National Theatre Studio, Royal Shakespeare Company, Citizens’ Theatre and Contact. She has been awarded bursaries from Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme, the Federation of Scottish Theatre, Scottish Arts Council and Arts Council East Midlands. Awards include Dewar Arts Award for Exceptional Artists Under 30, Time Warner Ignite 2, IdeasTap Innovator’s Award and the Lilian Baylis Award for Theatrical Excellence. She is a trustee of the Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling and Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme. She is also an Arts Council England South East Area Council Member. For the tiata fahodzi, her directing credits include bricks and pieces, i know all the secrets in my world, tiata delights 15, here and mango. Other directing credits include readings and productions at the Riverside Studios, Young Vic, Lyric, Southwark Playhouse, Southbank Centre, Jersey Arts Trust, The Old Vic Tunnels, Theatre503, The Gate, Latitude, HighTide, BAC, Oran Mor, Traverse, Royal Court, ATC at the Young Vic, OVNV at The Old Vic, Waterloo East and The Vineyard Theatre in New York, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Citizens’, The Arches, Contact and Nottingham Playhouse.

tiata fahodzi

tiata fahodzi creates inclusive theatre that illuminates the mixed and multiple experience of the African diaspora in Britain today. Their work starts with the contemporary British African experience but reaches beyond to ask everyone, what does it mean to be a contemporary Briton, now? Past productions include bricks and pieces by award-winning Charlene James, i know all the secrets in my world and belong by award-winning Bola Agbaje who cites tiata fahodzi’s production of the gods are not to blame in 2005 as her inspiration to write. Patrons include Lenny Henry and Danny Sapani.

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