Savannah Beckford

(they/she)

I am a genderqueer actor and playwright from New York, now residing in London. I am committed to creating work that celebrates blackness, gender, feminism, and queerness, and discusses the issues and biases that surround them. My writing includes Racist Boys Make Me Wet (Cervantes Theatre), Carnivorous (Crossroads Theatre Company), SIMbiosis (Mountview) Where the fuck are all the Black Lesbians in London? And other musings (Peripeteia Theatre Company). I am a stage and screen actor, having graduated from Mountview in 2022. I am also a proud member of Black Thrive Lambeth, part of a working group that strives to improve the mental well being of black queer people.

Credits

Acting:
TELL ME Y/OUR STORY, 2023, Stage, Any Queeries / Camden People's Theatre

BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK, 2023, Stage, Lottie McBride/ Afua Assata Ejobo, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (Professional)

ROADS S TRAVELED, 2022, Stage, Soul
Unshaded Arts / Omnibus Theatre

THE PENELOPIAD, 2022, Stage
Odysseus, Mountview

TWELFTH NIGHT, 2022, Stage, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Mountview

WAYS AND MEANS, 2022, Stage
Lady Chapworth/Nanny/Meadows, Mountview

A VERY EXPENSIVE POISON, 2021, Stage, Marina Litvinenko, Mountview

EVERYBODY, 2019, Stage, Everybody
Wagner College Theatre, Mickey Tennenbaum

Playwriting:
BlackefFace (2019): Following a father working at a minstrel show to provide for his son, he tries to teach his boy right from wrong while doing what he can to survive in a white-dominated world. (race, racism, dystopia).
Premiered in London at IES London in February 2019.
Carnivorous (2021): Two sisters have dinner together surrounding their mother's mysterious disappearance. But when the dinner doesn't taste like it should... tensions arise. Where is mom actually? (race, racism, colorism, black womanhood and sisterhood).
Premiered in London on Zoom in September 2021.
SIMbiosis (2022): A specimen is chosen to recreate their identity and the audience plays games to determine their new race, body type, gender, and sexual orientation. What happens if we could select the unselectable parts of being human? (interactive/immersive, race, racism, queer, body image, dystopia).
Premiered in London at Mountview Academy in April 2022.
Racist Boys Make Me Wet (2023): a psycho-fantastical piece with stand-up comedy, music, and movement. Prepping for a date brings out the monster in Sav. What could possibly go wrong when you invite a(n) r/incel Tinder swipe over when your mother isn’t home? I mean, truly… What did you expect? (race, racism, interracial relationships, colorism, feminism, body image, queer)
Premiered in London at the Cervantes Theatre in May 2023.

Directing:
Assistant director for 'SICK' by Emily Lagace: A play about munchausen by proxy (queer undertones) - Wagner College 2019
Director for various children's theatre productions, such as: Guys and Dolls Jr., Footloose, High School Musical 2 - Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts 2020-2021
Intimacy Director for The Last Five Years - Studio Theatre 2020

Training

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts 2022-2023
Wagner College Theatre 2016-2020
Black Thrive Working Group Member 2023