This is one man’s honest revelation of how pop culture raised him in the absence of his father. We follow Nick’s journey as he discovers what it takes for a man to become a hero, and how a hero can be just a man….My Father and Other Superheroes is a moving and powerful story about the journey from childhood to fatherhood. Set across continents and eras, it follows one man’s struggle to come to terms with the responsibilities of being a parent and his confrontation with his own father’s absence.
MY FATHER & OTHER SUPERHEROES
A story of rejection and acceptance through three aspects of the human psyche: the inner child; the here and now ; and fantasy.
“A fantastic piece of theatre…Makoha’s performance is raw and captivating… the trick is to find the human in the hero.”
UoBlogfest
THE SHOW
The day Nick Makoha realised he was going to become a father,
he also realised he had no idea how to be one…
MOTION COMIC
Working with Freakhouse Graphics and Madefire, we’ve created an animated version of the popular My Father and Other Superheroes graphic novel. This ‘motion comic’ works a bit like a video game: you control how quickly you move through it, and can stop and start at any point. Make sure you turn the volume up to hear the show music with each panel! (Clicking the image below takes you to the motion comic)
CREATIVE TEAM
NICK MAKOHA

As a former writer in Residence for Newham Libraries he wrote the poem ‘Promise to my unborn son’ which was published in the anthology Out Of Bounds (Bloodaxe 2012). The venture conceived by Spread the Word and Newham Libraries aimed to increase the number of residents in the borough of Newham actively involved in creative writing and literature. He represented Uganda in the Poetry Parnassus as part of the Cultural Olympiad. The poem “Vista” was used as part of a video installation to promote the Turner prize in 2008 for Tate Remix. His poem Beatitude is the newest addition to Being Human the third book in the Staying Alive poetry trilogy. Staying Alive and its sequel Being Alive have introduced many thousands of new readers to contemporary poetry. His poem ‘From The King”, got shortlisted for the Coffee House Poetry Fourth Troubadour International Poetry Prize and his poem “Stone” has been shortlisted for the 2010 Arvon International Poetry competition.
As a resident artist of Spoke-Lab (Theatre Royal Stratford East’s Spoken Word development programme) he developed a one-man show “My Father & Other Superheroes” One man’s honest revelation of how pop culture raised him in the absence of his father. Nick has gone on to develop the show, working with an exciting creative team to take his work from the page into the performance space, exploring the relationship between poetry and theatre.
He uses poetry as a Rosetta stone and is keen to investigate the relationships between sounds and the meanings they convey through language. Moving through many tongues he has acquired a special sensitivity to this relationship. The loss of his mother tongue is what separates him from his heritage. This theme of loss is expressed in his new poetry collection. He was one of ten writers on a programme called The Complete Works: A national two year development programme for ten advanced Black and Asian poets. During the programme he has been mentored by eminent poet George Szirtes, both writers in exile. The Complete Works culminated in September of 2010 with an anthology “Ten”: New poets from Spread the Word [edited by MBE Bernardine Evaristo and Daljit Nagra] on Bloodaxe press. George Szirtes’s description of Nick’s poems offers an excellent insight:
NIMBLE FISH

http://nimble-fish.co.uk
BENJI REID

Benji’s dance background includes; 1985 GLC Break-Dance Champions with Broken Glass Street Crew, European Body-Popping Champion and 2nd in the 1986 World
Dance Championships. In 1989 Benji worked with the legendary Soul II Soul as the main dancer and choreographer for their world tour, appearing on the Arsino Hall show and playing at the Soul Train Awards.
In theatre Benji has worked widely with such highly regarded companies as the David Glass Ensemble, Trestle Theatre, Theatr Clwyd and Black Mime Theatre. It was with Black Mime Theatre that Benji first became interested in directing.
In 2005 Benji received the NESTA Dreamtime Fellowship, awarded to prestigious artists for their outstanding achievements and continuing development and was also nominated for the Art05 award for his work in the North West of England.
www.benjireid.com