17 Jun Nikki Amuka-Bird: “Our job as actors is to show the colour of our skin doesn’t matter”

There’s something distinctly noble about Nigerian-born, Antiguan/British-raised actress Nikki Amuka-Bird. From her regal features to the gracious way she accepts the apology I proffer for my tardiness to our interview (serves me right for cutting it fine and not factoring in diversions and traffic). Perhaps it’s this nobility that has played a hand in her being cast as strong characters in the BBC’s Survivors and adaptation of Andrea Levy’s Small Island as well as most recently, the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf –inspired lead in the National Theatre’s forthcoming Welcome to Thebes. Amuka-Bird portrays Eurydice in writer Moira Buffini and director Richard Eyre’s re-imagining of the Greek myth as set in a contemporary African state struggling to establish stability after being ravaged by war. The piece is influenced a great deal by the story of ordinary women who were instrumental in bringing peace to battle-torn Liberia and has been described by its star as ‘an amazing play with amazing parts for black women’. Welcome to Thebes opens later this month.  On her lunch break from rehearsals, Nikki explains to me why the role of Eurydice excites her.