Francesca Amewudah-Rivers
Francesca Amewudah-Rivers | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1998 (age 27–28)[1][2] Brighton, England |
| Education | Oxford University |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2021–present |
Francesca Amewudah-Rivers is a British actress. She made her West End debut opposite Tom Holland in 2024 as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet,[3] and won the Ian Charleson Award for her performance.[4][5] She also won the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Newcomer in 2025.
Early life and education
Amewudah-Rivers was born in Brighton to a Ghanaian father and Nigerian mother.[6][7] She trained at the National Youth Theatre[8]
She studied music at Oxford University.[9] She was the only black person in her college year group, and set up a society for students of colour, which produced an adaptation of Medea blending poetry and music.[7]
Career
She appeared in two seasons of the BBC sitcom Bad Education as Blessing, alongside Jack Whitehall.[10] She also composed the music for the short films Medea, Minutes and Messenger.[11] She was awarded the 2021 Evening Standard Future Theatre Award for Audio Design. She was a music intern on Inua Ellams’ adaptation of Chekhov's play Three Sisters for the Royal National Theatre.[7]
On stage, she has appeared in theatre productions of Shakespeare's Macbeth and Othello at the National Youth Theatre,[12][13] as well an adaptation of Sophocles' Greek tragedy Antigone at the Mercury Theatre,[14] for which The Guardian positively reviewed her "sensitively delivered" performance.[15]
In 2024, she was cast in her first West End production, as Juliet alongside Tom Holland in Romeo and Juliet at the Duke of York's Theatre.[16] Her casting caused a backlash, described by the play's director Jamie Lloyd as "racial abuse."[17][18] Over 800 black actors signed an open letter in solidarity with her.[19] Amewudah-Rivers won the Ian Charleson Award for her performance,[4][5] and in March 2025 she also won The Jack Tinker Award for Best Newcomer at the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards.[20]
Personal life
Amewudah-Rivers is a classical and jazz pianist who also plays guitar, bassoon and djembe drum.[21]
References
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External links
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