Levi David Addai (born 2 August 1983) is a British playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for the award-winning ''

Damilola, Our Loved Boy ''Damilola, Our Loved Boy'' is a British television film about the events surrounding the 27 November 2000 death of Damilola Taylor. The film aired on BBC One on 7 November 2016, and was written by Levi David Addai, directed by Euros Lyn, and st ...

'', the critically acclaimed ''

Youngers ''Youngers'' is a British comedy drama series created by Benjamin Kuffuor and Levi David Addai. It began airing on E4 on 20 March 2013. It is produced by Big Talk Productions. The series has been picked up for international distribution by BBC ...

'' and his stage plays ''93.2FM'' and ''Oxford Street''.

Personal

Addai was born in South London to

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

parents. He studied at

Brunel University Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In June 1 ...

Plays

Addai wrote his first play, ''93.2FM'', as part of the Royal Court Young Writers Programme. It was performed at Royal Court Theatre in 2005, and then revived in 2006 before touring to Cardiff, Birmingham, Liverpool and Brighton. In a '' Times'' review it was said that "There is an enormous generosity in Addai's writing. He shows us the caring, supportive side of community.. this is a memorable and decidedly promising debut."Marlowe, Sam. "Lives and loyalties give radio play a warm heart; Theatre."

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

ondon, England9 September 2006: 35.

Academic OneFile InfoTrac is a family of full-text databases of content from academic journals and general magazines, of which the majority are targeted to the English-speaking North American market. As is typical of online proprietary databases, various forms ...

. Web. 22 November 2013. Addai's second play, ''House of Agnes'', premiered in March 2008 at the Ovalhouse in a co-production with

Paines Plough Paines Plough is a touring theatre company founded in 1974 by writer David Pownall and director John Adams. The company specialises exclusively in commissioning and producing new plays and helping playwrights develop their craft. Over the past f ...

.Shuttleworth, Ian. "House of Agnes." ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' 11 March 2008: 17.

. Web. 22 November 2013. A review in the ''

'' said "Addai writes his characters' most heartfelt emotions with the clarity and sincerity of a younger Richard Cameron." Addai's third play, ''Oxford Street'', starring

Ashley Walters Ashley Walters may refer to: * Ashley Walters (actor) (born 1982), English rapper and actor * Ashley Walters (artist) (born 1983), South African artist {{Hndis, Walters, Ashley ...

and

Daniel Kaluuya Daniel Kaluuya (; born 24 February 1989) is a British actor. Prominent both on screen and stage, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and nomin ...

'premiered at the Royal Court in May 2008, before transferring for a limited run in Elephant and Castle shopping centre.Marlowe, Sam. "Oxford Street; Theatre."

ondon, England12 May 2008: 14.

. Web. 22 November 2013. ''

'' in a review said "All the tawdry dazzle of London's most famous shopping district glitters in the third play by the sharp-eyed young talent Levi David Addai... This is a joyous hymn to our flawed, fabulous city." ''Oxford Street'' was nominated for a Writers' Guild award in the "Best Play (Theatre)" category (2008); and was nominated for the "Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre" category of the Olivier Award (2009). His play for

Polka Theatre Polka Theatre is a children’s theatre in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, for children aged 0– 13. The theatre contains two performance spaces - a 300-seat main auditorium and a 70-seat studio dedicated to early years performances. Polka ...

, ''I Have A Dream'', ran in September 2011. A new play, ''Blacklands'', won the Alfred Fagon Award (2011).

Television

In 2011, Addai wrote a short film, ''Micah'', starring

for the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

series '' Coming Up'' which highlights films made for television by new directors and writers. It was broadcast in August and screened at the

Edinburgh Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

. The short led to his winning "Best Breakthrough Talent" at the CDN Diversity Awards (2011). BBC Current Affairs commissioned Levi to write the drama ''My Murder'' starring John Boyega, based on a gang-related honey trap murder which premiered on BBC3 on 26 March 2012. ''My Murder'' won a Broadcast Awards (2013) in the "Best Single Drama" category; it won "Best Drama" at the Movie Video & Screen Awards (2012); it received a recognition at the 2012

Screen Nation Film and TV Awards The Screen Nation Film & TV Awards, formerly the bfm (black filmmaker) Film and TV Awards, was founded in September 2003 by independent film producer Charles Thompson MBE, as a platform to raise the profile of black British and international fil ...

for "Diversity in Drama Production"; and was nominated for "Best Single Drama" at the 2013

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

awards. Addai was lead writer, co-creator and associate producer of ''

'', an E4 critically acclaimed drama series, which was first broadcast on Channel 4 on 20 March 2013, and ran for two series. ''The Guardian'' in a review said, "Youngers has heart, conviction and a spring in its trainers so pneumatic it's surely only a matter of time before it crunks itself clean through the ceiling tiles". It was nominated for a Screen Nation Film and Television Awards for Diversity in Drama Production (2014), a

Broadcast Award ''Broadcast'' is a monthly magazine for the United Kingdom television and radio industry, owned by Media Business Insight. History ''Broadcast'' was started in 1973 by Rod Allen, who went on to work at LWT, HTV and HarperCollinsInteractive. ...

for Best Multichannel Programme (2014), and a BBC Radio 1 Teen Award for Best British TV show (2013). Addai's 90-minute

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

drama ''Damilola, Our Loved Boy'', starring

Babou Ceesay Baboucarr Alieu Ceesay (born 1979) is a British actor. He is known for his roles in '' Guerrilla'' and ''Rogue One''. He also starred as the main antagonist Pilgrim in season 3 of AMC TV series '' Into the Badlands''. Early life and education C ...

and Wunmi Mosaku, tells the story of

Damilola Taylor Damilola Adegbite (born Oluwadamilola Adegbite; 18 May 1985) is Nigerian actress, Model, and Television personality. She played Thelema Duke in the soap opera ''Tinsel'', and Kemi Williams in the movie '' Flower Girl''. She won Best Actress in a T ...

from the point of view of the Taylor family. It won the Best Single Drama BAFTA TV Award and the Screen Nation Film and Television Award for Diversity in Drama Production. Other wins include the Banff Rockie Best Television Movie Award, the CDN Best Drama Award and the CDN Best Author/Creative Award. It was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for Best Writer, a Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Single Drama, and the Banff Rockie Special Jury Prize. It has won at the inaugural Diversity Awards and at the Movie, Video & Screen Awards. Other nominations include best single drama for the Broadcast Awards 2018 and the RTS Awards 2018. In 2016, the BBC announced they were producing an adaptation of acclaimed YA novels ''

Noughts and Crosses Tic-tac-toe (American English), noughts and crosses (Commonwealth English), or Xs and Os (Canadian or Irish English) is a paper-and-pencil game for two players who take turns marking the spaces in a three-by-three grid with ''X'' or ''O''. T ...

'', to be written by Addai, with

Matthew Graham Matthew Graham is a British television writer, and the co-creator of the BBC/Kudos (production company), Kudos Film and Television science fiction series ''Life on Mars (UK TV series), Life on Mars'', which debuted in 2006 on BBC One and has re ...

. They had to bow out and Toby Whithouse took over in 2018. Addai's four-part serial '' Dark Mon£y'', starring

and

Jill Halfpenny Jill Halfpenny (born 15 July 1975) is an English actress. Her notable roles include Rebecca Hopkins in ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (1999–2000), Kate Mitchell in BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2002–2005), Izzie Redpath in '' W ...

, was first broadcast between 8 and 16 July 2019 on

and on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

in 2022. It deals with the ordeal of a family of a sexual abuse victim.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Addai, Levi David Living people 1983 births English people of Ghanaian descent British dramatists and playwrights British male screenwriters British male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century British dramatists and playwrights 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British screenwriters