Clint Dyer to replace Dominic Cooke as director of upcoming Bob Marley musical starring Arinzé Kene

1/16
Zoe Paskett22 July 2020

Dominic Cooke has "decided to step aside" from directing an upcoming Bob Marley musical and will be replaced by Clint Dyer.

Cooke, who has been involved in the development of Get Up, Stand Up for three years, said he made the decision after reflecting on recent conversations around race in theatre, and deciding the story would be better told with a Black director.

Cooke said: “In recent weeks the conversation about race has changed in theatre, as it has across society. With that in mind, and after much reflection, I have decided to step aside from my role to make way for Clint Dyer to lead the project. Clint is a brilliant theatre-maker and an inspiring leader. I can’t wait to see what he brings to this powerful story.”

Writer and director Dyer, whose most recent play staged in London was Death of England, which he co-wrote with Roy Williams, said: “As a British-Jamaican I have been a Marleyite since I could hear, so understand the great honour this actually is. I hope we can take forward the amazing work that Lee and Dominic have done so far and bring this story to life in a conscious, uplifting and joyous way.”

Dyer has worked as both an actor and director alongside Cooke at the Royal Court and National Theatre, and added that it is “no surprise” that he would step aside to make room for someone else.

The musical will star Arinzé Kene in the lead role, telling the life story of Marley through his greatest hits, including No Woman No Cry, Exodus and Three Little Birds.

Get Up, Stand Up – The Bob Marley Musical will run next year in the West End, with tickets going on sale in the autumn.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in