Jeffery Kissoon

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Jeffery Kissoon
Born (1947-09-04) 4 September 1947 (age 77)
Trinidad
Residence United Kingdom
Education Christopher Wren School
Occupation Actor
theatre director
Years active 1970–present
Organization Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal National Theatre
Citizens Theatre Company
Home town London, England
Board member of Shared Experience
Warehouse Theatre Company
Awards Peloponnesian International Film Festival Best Lead Actor Award (2012)

Jeffery Kissoon (born 4 September 1947) is a Trinidad-born actor with credits in British theatre, television, film and radio. He has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company at venues such as the Royal National Theatre, under directors including Peter Brook, Peter Hall, Robert Lepage, Janet Suzman, Calixto Bieito and Nicholas Hytner.[1] He has acted in genres from Shakespeare and modern theatre to television drama and science fiction, playing a range of both leading and supporting roles, from Mark Antony in Antony and Cleopatra and Prospero and Caliban in The Tempest, to Malcolm X in The Meeting and Mr Kennedy in the children's TV series Grange Hill.

A regular director of theatre, Kissoon is a member of the board of directors of the Shared Experience company and the Warehouse Theatre in Croydon, London. He has tutored younger actors, writers and directors, and values the rehearsal process.[2] He played the lead role in the Mark Norfolk film Ham and the Piper (2011), and also directed Norfolk's theatre production Naked Soldiers, staged in 2010 at the Warehouse Theatre.[3] He reprised his role as Antony in Suzman's production of Antony and Cleopatra, appearing opposite Kim Cattrall as Cleopatra, at the Liverpool Playhouse in 2010.[4][5][6][7][8]

Early life and career

Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Kissoon emigrated to London with his parents at an early age. While attending the Christopher Wren School in Shepherd's Bush,[9] he joined the student drama group. In 1970, under Robert Tanitch and Eric Rickman, he made his first appearance as an actor in the film Like You, Like Me,[10] an inter-racial romance.

Although he trained as a drama teacher, Kissoon has worked as an actor since the early 1970s. In 1972, he joined the Glasgow Citizens Theatre Company and, for two years thereafter, played leading roles in a number of productions, including Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine The Great and Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera.[11] During this period, he worked with director Keith Hack, who cast him as Tamburlaine for the 1972 Edinburgh Festival,[11] and as Caliban for the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1974 production of The Tempest at The Other Place in Stratford-upon-Avon.[12] Kissoon had his first prominent television role playing Sam in Beryl's Lot for Yorkshire Television (in 1975),[13] after which he played PC Robbins in an episode of Z-Cars and Sonny in a BBC Play for Today titled "Rocky Marciano is Dead" (both in 1976).[13] He portrayed Dr. Ben Vincent in seven episodes of Gerry Anderson's science-fiction series Space 1999 between 1976 and 1977.[13][14]

In 1985, Kissoon played Karna in Peter Brook's nine-hour stage adaptation of The Mahabharata.[15] The three-year project opened at the Festival d'Avignon in France and completed a world tour, ultimately leading to a film adaptation running to six hours. It also resulted in a lasting professional association between Kissoon and Brook, which witnessed Kissoon play two roles in the director's production of Shakespeare's Hamlet.[16] Kissoon is a veteran cast member of both RSC and Royal National Theatre productions, regularly collaborating with director Sir Peter Hall.[17][18] In 2003, he participated in a rehearsed reading of Wrong Place at the Soho Theatre,[19] marking the start of an association with playwright Mark Norfolk.

Kissoon's recent screen and stage credits include Julius Caesar (Royal Shakespeare Company), Ham & The Piper (Mark Norfolk, 2011) Dirty Pretty Things (Stephen Frears, 2002), Crossing Bridges (Mark Norfolk, 2006), Holby City (BBC, 2006), Casualty (BBC, 2008), War and Peace (Hampstead Theatre, 2008), Amazonia (Old Vic, 2009) and The Meeting (Warehouse Theatre, 2009).[20] He played the lead role in Norfolk's film Ham and the Piper (2011),[21] for which he won the Best Lead Actor Award at the 2012 Peloponnesian International Film Festival, having directed Ewart James Walters, Elisabeth Dahl and Adam Sopp in Norfolk's play Naked Soldiers at the Warehouse Theatre the previous year.[3] He later directed the same author's Where The Flowers Grow, again at the Warehouse Theatre.[22] Kissoon reprised his Mark Antony, opposite Kim Cattrall's Cleopatra, in a production of Antony and Cleopatra, directed by Janet Suzman and performed at the Liverpool Playhouse, in October 2010.[23] This was followed by Waiting For Godot at the West Yorkshire Playhouse (co-starring Patrick Robinson) and the RSC's production of Julius Caesar (in the title role).

Kissoon performed in the BBC Radio 4 sitcom Rudy's Rare Records (2008–12) as Rudy's friend Clifton.[24][25] He also featured in Norfolk's "Broken Chain", a segment of Radio 4's The City Speaks (2008), which is credited as the first "feature film for radio" produced in collaboration with Film London and Arts Council England.

Work

Theatre

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Television

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Radio

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Film

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  • Ham and the Piper (2012) as Burt[68]
  • The Nativity Story (2006) as Herod's Architect
  • Crossing Bridges (2004) as Buster[69]
  • Hamlet (1996) as Fortinbras's Captain

References

  1. ↑ Adrian Hamilton, The Independent, 20 August 2005.
  2. ↑ Shared Experience Education Pack.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.offwestend.com/index.php/plays/view/4106
  4. ↑ Kim Cattrall and Jeffery Kissoon in Antony and Cleopatra, News, Everyman Playhouse, Liverpool, 30 April 2010.
  5. ↑ Catherine Jones, "Sex And The City's Kim Cattrall to make Liverpool stage debut as Cleopatra", Liverpool Echo, 30 April 2010.
  6. ↑ Terri Paddock, "Kim Cattrall, Jeffrey Kissoon to Star in Antony and Cleopatra at Liverpool Playhouse", Theater Mania, 30 April 2010.
  7. ↑ BWW News Desk, "Cattrall & Kissoon Confirmed for ANTHONY & CLEOPATRA in Liverpool, 10/8-11/13", Broadwayworld.com, 30 April 2012.
  8. ↑ Mark Shenton, "Kim Cattrall Confirmed to Play Cleopatra in Liverpool; Dates Announced", Playbill.com, 30 April 2010.
  9. ↑ Memories of White City.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 British Film Institute Film and Television Database.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 http://laurancerudic.wordpress.com/giles-havergals-glasgow-citizens-theatre-company/the-citz-season-1972-73/[dead link]
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Michael Pennington's website.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Jeffery Kissoon on IMDb.
  14. ↑ Catacombs Credit Guide.
  15. ↑ Frank Rich, New York Times, October 1987.
  16. ↑ Michael Billington in The Guardian, 20 December 2000.
  17. ↑ http://www.alanhoward.org.uk/oedipusthebes.htm
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Michael Coveney, "Alan Howard was not immune to the curse of Thebes. He fell off the stage and broke his wrist", The Observer, 8 September 1996.
  19. ↑ BBC London.
  20. ↑ Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
  21. ↑ Ham and the Piper, British Films Directory, British Council.
  22. ↑ http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/32497/where-the-flowers-grow
  23. ↑ Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Rudy's Rare Records, BBC.
  25. ↑ Rudy's Rare Records, The British Comedy Guide.
  26. ↑ Warehouse Theatre.
  27. ↑ Amazonia Website.
  28. ↑ Rhoda Koeni, "War and Peace, Hampstead Theatre, London", The Independent, 16 April 2008.
  29. ↑ "An African Cargo" at Nitrobeat.
  30. ↑ "Intro to Nitro: An African Cargo", BBC Africa Beyond, Celebrating African Arts in the UK: October 2007 Events.
  31. ↑ Michael Coveney for FirstPost, November 2006.
  32. ↑ Philip Fisher, "Tamburlaine" (review), British Theatre Guide, 2005.
  33. ↑ FT.com, "The Bitter Sweet Refrain of Life's Transience", 6 May 2005.
  34. ↑ Michael Billington, "Fix Up" (review), The Guardian, 17 December 2004.
  35. ↑ Fix Up reviews on National Theatre Website November 2004.
  36. ↑ Terry Grimley, "Culture..."Birmingham Post & Mail, 2003.
  37. ↑ Michael Billington, "Nathan the Wise" (review), The Guardian, 3 May 2003.
  38. ↑ Warehouse Theatre Website.
  39. ↑ Karen Peterson, University of Wales for Shaksper, The Global Electronic Shakespeare Conference.
  40. ↑ Kate Bassett, "Chekhov plays away", The Telegraph, 14 March 2000.
  41. ↑ International Playwriting Festival history, Warehouse Theatre website.
  42. ↑ Ben Brantley for the New York Times, 14 October 1999.
  43. ↑ Complicite website.
  44. ↑ Irving Wardle, "THEATRE / The best little whorehouse in Dublin", The Independent on Sunday, 18 September 1994.
  45. ↑ http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/content/view/234/234
  46. ↑ "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar", The RSC Shakespeare.
  47. ↑ Othello, Birmingham City Council.
  48. ↑ "Interview: Jeffrey Kissoon on playing Oberon", eStage.
  49. ↑ Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare Project.
  50. ↑ Sheridan Morley, "The Trinidad Follies", New York Times, 24 July 1991.
  51. ↑ Talawa Theatre Company Website.
  52. ↑ Gallery, Kim Dambaek website.
  53. ↑ AHDS Performing Arts Database.
  54. ↑ Victoria and Albert Museum Catalogue.
  55. ↑ "The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida", The RSC Shakespeare.
  56. ↑ History of the theatre 1977–2005.
  57. ↑ http://laurancerudic.wordpress.com/giles-havergals-glasgow-citizens-theatre-company/the-citz-season-1983-84/[dead link]
  58. ↑ http://library.kent.ac.uk/library/special/Programmes/PRG1982.HTM
  59. ↑ "17 Sept – 24 Oct 1981, Dr Faustus", Royal Exchange Theatre website.
  60. ↑ RSC Archive Catalogue.
  61. ↑ Rob Wilton: Theatricalia, 1970–1979.
  62. ↑ Random House Modern Library RSC Stagings History.
  63. ↑ AHDS Performing Arts.
  64. ↑ "Gone by Debbie Tucker Green", Drama on 3, BBC.
  65. ↑ The City Speaks 1/2 (Pushing By/I Am Not You Are Not Me/Broken Chain). Internet Radio Database.
  66. ↑ "Tamburlaine: Shadow of God by John Fletcher", Drama on 3, BBC.
  67. ↑ Greeks: Radio Plays.
  68. ↑ Ham and the Piper, Drama.
  69. ↑ British Council Britfilms Catalogue.

External links

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