Malakaï Sargeant
Malakaï (pronouns they/them) is an artist, educator and producer from pre-gentrified Hackney, London. Led by curiosity and care, malakaï makes art for theatre, literature, audio and live performance, creating and interrogating through an unapologetically Afroqueer lens.
A Barbican Young Poets alumnus, malakaï has been commissioned as a writer by the likes of Apples & Snakes, Spread the Word, Nationwide, the RSC and the Royal Court. Their creative nonfiction piece on London’s gentrification and social cleansing was published in the anthology ’21 Stories From Britain’s Youth’ (Unbound, 2019), edited by Nikesh Shukla, with the essay going viral after being featured in VICE and The Independent.
As a director and dramaturg, Malakaï’s work has been staged site-specifically and at venues including the Royal Court, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Chichester Festival Theatre and the National Gallery. Malakaï has worked extensively with young people in community settings and in higher education; co-creating, devising, scripting and facilitating cross-disciplinary work with organisations including Hackney Empire, Unicorn Theatre, Serpentine Gallery and South London Gallery. They have also worked as an associate and guest lecturer at UAL, SOAS and Mountview.
They co-founded and were Artistic Director of The S+K Project, a producing theatre company specialising in nurturing the talent of emerging Black & Asian artists, between 2014-19. Aged 21, they were appointed Associate Director at Theatre Peckham, responsible for cultural programming, nurturing young artists and developing new writing.
Since 2019, Malakaï has been Co-Creative Director of Afro-diasporic literary arts agency BORN::FREE, and now works as New Work Associate for Talawa– Britain’s primary Black-led touring theatre company, nurturing the development of new Black writing and performance for theatre and radio. Malakaï (almost) completed their MA in Black British Literature at Goldsmiths University of London.
Parallel to their work in the arts, Malakaï devises and delivers bespoke anti-racist training and consultancy to develop inclusive organisation, predominantly for clients in the cultural and charity sectors – which have included the Albany, Young Vic, Rambert and Trinity Laban Conservatoire.
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