David Harewood OBE to Deliver Inaugural Mona Hammond Annual Lecture

Internationally acclaimed actor and cultural advocate David Harewood OBE (Pierre and Homeland, Channel 4; Othello, National Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket) will deliver the inaugural lecture as part of the Mona Hammond Annual Lecture Series. This vital three-year series will honour the legacy of the Talawa founder and RADA graduate Mona Hammond OBE by addressing current industry trends and issues. Jointly presented between the UK's leading Black British theatre company and RADA, whose world-renowned training has shaped the creative industries for over 120 years. The event will be held on Wednesday 2nd September, 5:30PM.

RADA graduate and President, David Harewood brings an exceptional voice to this urgent conversation. Through this lecture, David explores wellbeing through the lens of his extraordinary achievements, experience of navigating an industry and institutions that were not always built for him and fearless advocacy around race and mental health. Drawing candidly on his own life, he will ask what theatre demands from its artists and, crucially, what it owes them in return. David has previously delivered thoughtful lectures including the 2023 BBC Richard Dimbleby Lecture.

The first public event will be entitled Creative Lives in Changing Times: Wellbeing and the Artist. The lecture will ask the question: what must theatre become now and in the future?

Launched as part of Talawa's 40th year and RADA's 120th anniversary, Creative Lives in Changing Times: Wellbeing and the Artist builds on a roundtable held earlier this year, bringing together insights from a panel including David Harewood, Talawa's Co-CEOs Michael Buffong and Carolyn ML Forsyth, Talawa Chair Shonagh Reid, Marcus Ryder MBE, Chair of RADA and Film and TV Charity CEO and Joan Oliver, RADA's Director of Equity. Their reflections examined the effects of financial insecurity and poor mental health across the profession, reinforcing that wellbeing is structural, not merely individual, and representation does not automatically create inclusion. David Harewood will now propel this conversation onto the public stage, transforming lived experience into a wider call for change.

David Harewood OBE comments: 'Theatre changes lives. It changed mine. That is why it is so important that we continue to welcome as many people into the industry as possible and give them the support and conditions they need to thrive, so that the future of the performing arts and creative industries continues to be shaped by rich, diverse and impactful stories. That is why I am so pleased to build on Mona Hammond's work and honour her legacy through this lecture series, which asks important questions about what comes next.'

Rooted in Mona Hammond's radical achievements but resolutely focused on the future, Creative Lives in Changing Times: Wellbeing and the Artist will transform remembrance into action and ask the whole theatre industry what kind of future it is willing to build next.