Malaika Kegode

Credit Jon Aitken

Productions with Afonica – Tribe of Two

Malaika Kegode is an award-winning writer, performer, theatre-maker, creative producer and Associate Director for Theatre Royal Plymouth. Her work is focused on uplifting and celebrating the overlooked and misunderstood. Beginning her arts career as a performance poet in 2014, Malaika has since developed her practice to encompass theatre, radio, TV and film writing.

Her gig-theatre show Outlier, an autobiographical piece about addiction and isolation in rural England performed with prog-rock band Jakabol was the first piece of new writing to appear on Bristol Old Vic’s main stage in 2021, going on to have a remount in 2022. Malaika’s work has been featured on a variety of stages and platforms, including Lyric Hammersmith, BBC Radio 4 and Random Acts.

She is a vocal advocate for creativity as a tool for healing and connection, and has dedicated much of her career to supporting the creativity and development of underrepresented voices through teaching workshops, mentoring individuals and producing accessible events. She is a Trustee for Bristol-based mental health charity Many Minds.

In 2015, Malaika founded, and continues to be artistic director and host of, Milk Poetry, an organisation that produces innovative spoken word gigs and workshops in a supportive environment across the South West, with monthly events at The Wardrobe Theatre in Bristol.