Amani Naphtali is an English dramatist, creative writer, director, film maker, cultural historian and ritual dramaturgist. He wrote and directed the experimental films, Le Bohemian Noir and the fiction film Circles of Fire. Amani is the brother of Maureen Blackwood, a founder member of Sankofa Film and Video Collective and who co-directed Passion of Remembrance with Isaac Julien. His theatre productions also include The Remnant, Valley of the Blind, Song of Songs, The Word Temple and the reggae musical Ragamuffin. Five of his plays have been archived at the National Theatre.
Born in London, Naphtali was trained at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama.
Naphtali was involved in the British Black Arts Movement of the 1980s and 1990s, through his work with the Double Edge Theatre Company and experimental film projects that explored Black British identity and African diasporic consciousness. In 1990, Naphtali took part in and received a bursary for an Arts Council Theatre Writing Scheme.
Naphtali began his career in the 1980s, co-founding Doubleâ¯Edge Theatre Company. He served as director and writer on stage productions and films focusing on Black British identity and diaspora. In 1990 he received an Arts Council Theatre Writing Scheme bursary. His plays Theâ¯Remnant, Valley of the Blind, Song of Songs, The Word Temple, and Ragamuffin have been archived. In 2021, Naphtali took part in the Rural Black History Project offered a fresh perspective on rural British historiography.
In 2005 Naphtali directed a spoken word ensemble entitled The Word Temple, inspired by spoken traditions including the Last Poets and African griot storytelling techniques, the ritual of the word, the legacy of the Last Poets and the Griot tradition of Africa
A well-acclaimed reggae musical structured as a courtroom drama, where the allegorical character RagamuffinâÂÂa symbol of Black urban youthâÂÂis tried for "crimes against the African people." (1987; revived in 2002) juxtaposed themes from the Haitian Revolution and British race relations, àit featured actor and Hip-Hop choreographer Benji Reid
Lyn Gardner wrote in the Guardian, âÂÂit has a fierce passion and cheeky humor, as well as some terrific music and dancing, and elements of physical theatre that make most other productions seem tired and anaemic.âÂÂ
He directed Michaela Coel in Talawa Theatre Company's Krunch (2009), shaping her early career. He directed Tony Hippolyte (RagamuffinâÂÂs lead actor) and music video for Soul II SoulâÂÂs single "Keep On Movin, integrating reggae and dub into theatre. In the Pan African Cinema podcast, he stated: "We learned to stand behind nothing but our culture... breaking paradigms to bring art our audience could be proud of.
Naphtali's works are archived at the National Theatre Black Plays Archive. His 2021 Rural Black History Project reinterpreted rural historiography, while Ragamuffin remains a touchstone for debates on race and representation.