Kamal Kaan
Kamal Kaan is a British playwright, screenwriter and actor. He was listed in Prolific North's top scriptwriters of 2017.[2] He also served as Script Consultant for Clio Barnard on the BAFTA nominated Outstanding British film Ali & Ava.[3]
Kamal Kaan | |
---|---|
Born | Bradford, West Yorkshire[1] |
Alma mater | University of Cambridge Glasgow Caledonian University |
Genre | Drama, Comedy, Poetry |
Biography
Kaan was born and raised in Bradford, West Yorkshire.[1] He was educated at Dixon's City Academy and then received a scholarship to attend the University of Cambridge, where he read Architecture.[4] He was then awarded a scholarship from Shed productions to complete a Masters in TV Fiction Writing at Glasgow Caledonian University.[5] Kaan is from a working-class background and his father was textile mill worker. He is one of ten siblings and was the first from his family to go away to university. [6]
Career
Theatre
Kaan was selected for The Emerging Writers Group 2016 at The Bush Theatre, London[7] and for the BBC Writersroom Drama Room in 2017.[8] His first professional commission was in collaboration with artist David Shearing: and it all comes down to this...[9]
In 2020, Kaan wrote Us (Post 23/3). The play detailed the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on British Asian communities and was described by Emma Clayton in Telegraph and Argus as "darkly humorous".[10]
Kaan wrote a modern adaptation of Antigone, Aaliyah: After Antigone, for Bradford-based theatre company Freedom Studios in 2021. It was described as 'the most radical rewrite'[11] by Michael Billington in The Guardian and was performed to a live audience and streamed online to a remote audience simultaneously.[12] Writing in The Times Literary Supplement, Marchella Ward described it as 'an ancient play of the moment' and 'strikingly modern'.[13] The show gained four stars in The Stage as a work of 'a necessary rage, and one that we should see more of in the stories that theatre tells'.[14]
In 2022, Kaan wrote Amma, a virtual reality play about Bangladeshi women's experiences of the War of Independence.[15]
Radio
Kaan won the BBC Radio 3 Verb New Voices 2015 with his audio drama as the cloud takes its last breath.[16]
Since then he has written a number of radio dramas for BBC Radio 4, including:
- Breaking Up With Bradford, starring Luke Newberry and described as a 'love letter' to Bradford.[17] The Spectator called the drama 'refreshingly different'. [18]
- The Headline Ballads: Whilst the Water Weeps Next to the Water, a drama-documentary about the Boxing day floods in 2015, paralleled with the flooding in Bangladesh.[1]
- Father's Land in Mother Tongue, starring Bhavna Limbachia. The story reflects on the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and was inspired by the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore.
- Bangla Bantams, starring Nina Wadia and Sudha Bhuchar. The story is based on the real life story of The Bangla Bantams,[19] a British-Bangladeshi football fan group of Bradford City AFC[20]
In 2022, Kaan wrote 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' for the Northern Broadsides Winter Tales podcast series.[21]
Screen
Kaan worked as Script Consultant with writer and director Clio Barnard on the BAFTA nominated Outstanding British film[22] Ali & Ava. He helped to shape the story, giving feedback on treatments, scripts, locations and character research.[23] In The Observer, Mark Kermode described the film as a 'pitch perfect Bradford love story'.[24]
Acting
Kaan's work for screen includes Five Days (series 2), The Syndicate, Doctors, Ali & Ava.
On stage, Kaan has appeared in: The Chef Show, directed by Stefan Escreet, winner of the Rural Touring Show Awards 2018.[25] In 2021 he appeared in Full English (2021) by Bent Architect, winner of the Best Stage Production, 2021 at the Asian Media Awards.[26]
Other credits include: Cymbeline (2008) directed by Sir Trevor Nunn, starring James Norton. Peter Pan (2008) and the Pembroke Players Japan Tour of A Midsummer Night's Dream (2008).[27] Boy With a Suitcase (2010) by Mike Kenny at the Arcola Theatre. Plan D by Hannah Khalil (2010). Brief Encounters Freedom Studios (2015). North Country Directed by Alex Chisholm (2016). Wanted (2016) Leeds Playhouse. This Space Is Occupied (2018) Bent Architect.
Works
- Bangla Bantams (2022) – Afternoon Drama, BBC Radio 4. Co-written with Mary Cooper.
- Ali & Ava (2021) – Feature Film, Script Consultant.
- Aaliyah: After Antigone (2021) Stage play with Freedom Studios. Premiered at Impact Hub Bradford and livestreamed.
- A Love Story on Leeds Road (2021) An Audio-Documentary for Bradford Producing Hub.
- Decades: and after we sailed a thousand skies (2021) - Stage and Screen play. Premiered at The Leeds Playhouse for the 50th Anniversary.
- Lockdown Diaries (2020) – Stage and screen play. Premiered online for Skipton Camerata.
- Us (Post 23/3) (2020) – Screenplay. Premiered online for Naïve Theatre and supported by Camden People's Theatre.
- Father's Land in Mother Tongue (2019) – Premiered on BBC Radio 4, Afternoon Drama.
- On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (2018) – Stage and Radio play. Premiered at The Leeds Playhouse and BBC Radio Leeds.
- Breaking Up With Bradford (2017) – Premiered on BBC Radio 4, Afternoon Drama.
- The Headline Ballads: Whilst the Water Weeps Next to the Water (2016 & 2017) – Premiered on BBC Radio 4.
- as the cloud takes its last breath (2016) – Audio Installation. Premiered at St. Chad's Chapel, recommissioned for the Durham Book Festival.
- The Rose and Bulbul (2016 & 2017) – Site Specific play. Premiered at Stockwood Gardens and UK tour.
- as the cloud takes its last breath (2015) – Audio Monologue. Premiered on BBC Radio 3.
- The Weather Machine (2015) – Stage play and Installation. Premiered at Stage@Leeds.
- and it all comes down to this... (2012) – Stage play and Installation. Premiered at Stage@Leeds.
- if anyone wonders why rocks breakdown (2011) – Audio Installation. Premiered at part of Light Night Leeds.
References
- "My Yorkshire: Bradford-born writer and actor Kamal Kaan". The Yorkshire Post. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- "The Prolific North Top Scriptwriters 2017". Prolific North. 2017-01-17.
- "Clio Barnard's 'Ali & Ava': Watch First Clip From Cannes Directors' Fortnight Selection (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. 2021-09-24.
- "Talented Bradford playwright inspired by home city". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
- "Kamal Kaan". Kitson Press Associates. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
- "Ummahsonic Catches up with Actor and Writer, Kamal Kaan". Ummah Sonic. 2018.
- "Emerging Writers". Bush Theatre. 2016.
- "Introducing the 2017 BBC Writersroom Drama Room". BBC. 19 July 2017.
- "and it all comes down to this..." David Shearing. 2012.
- "Bradford writer's brother was in a coma due to Covid". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
- "Age of Antigone: Sophocles's arresting tale of the debt we owe the dead". The Guardian. 2021-10-04.
- "New Adaptation Of ANTIGONE To Premiere Simultaneously Live And Online". Broadway World. 2021-09-24.
- Ward, Marchella (2022-10-29). "An Ancient Play of The Moment". The Times Literary Supplement.
- "Aaliyah (After Antigone) Review". The Stage. 2021-10-12.
- Sohal, Balraj (2022-12-26). "Kamal Kaan on 'Amma' & Bangladesh Culture in Theatre". DESIblitz. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
- "Radio 3 announces the winners of Verb New Voices 2015". BBC. 2015-05-05.
- "Talented Bradford playwright inspired by home city". Telegraph & Argus. 2017-08-11.
- "India in a Day". The Spectator. 2017-08-19.
- "Bangla Bantams: Bringing 'inclusivity and diversity' to the game". BBC News. 2019-03-13.
- "Playwright Kamal Kaan is now an avid Bantams follower". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
- "Winter Tales". Northern Broadsides. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
- "Clio Barnard's 'Ali & Ava': Watch First Clip From Cannes Directors' Fortnight Selection (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. 2021-09-24.
- "An interview with writer, Kamal Kaan". On: Yorkshire Magazine. 2021.
- "Ali & Ava review – Clio Barnard's pitch-perfect Bradford love story". The Guardian. 2022-03-06.
- "The Chef Show Review". The Stage. 2017-01-16.
- "Full English Wins Best Stage Production". Asian Media Awards. 2021-11-04.
- "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Varsity. 2008-10-12.
External links
- Kamal Kaan at IMDb
- Kamal Kaan: Writer - Drama, Theatre, Radio, Television at Kitson Press