Lucian Msamati

Lucian Msamati
Lucian Msamati (2010)
Born	Lucian Gabriel Wiina Msmati (1976-03-05) 5 March 1976 (age 41) London, England
Other names	Wiina Msamati
Occupation	Actor and playwright

Lucian Gabriel Wiina Msamati, sometimes credited as Wiina Msamati, is a British-Tanzanian film, television and theatre actor. He played Salladhor Saan in HBO series Game of Thrones and was the first black actor to play Iago at the Royal Shakespeare Company (in 2015).

Lucian Gabriel Wiina Msamati was born in the United Kingdom and brought up in Zimbabwe by his Tanzanian parents, a doctor and a nurse; he is the eldest of four siblings. His primary education began at Olympio Primary School in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, and continued at Avondale Primary School in Harare, Zimbabwe. After secondary education at Prince Edward School in Harare, he studied towards a BA Honours Degree in French and Portuguese at the University of Zimbabwe from 1995–97.

After university he took a day-job as an advertising copywriter and freelance radio presenter. He also worked as a voice-over artist, compere and after-dinner speaker.

In 1994 Msamati and school friends, Shaheen Jassat (deceased), Craig and Gavin Peter, Kevin Hanssen, Roy Chizivano, Sarah Norman founded what would become Zimbabwe's acclaimed Over the Edge Theatre Company in Harare, later joined by Erica Glyn-Jones, Zane E Lucas, Chipo Chung, Karin Alexander, Rob Hollands and Michael Pearce. The company celebrated its 10th anniversary in December 2004 having flown the Zimbabwe flag across Europe, the US and South Africa. The last few years have seen individual members pursuing other interests. Though not officially disbanded, there are no immediate plans of an Over the Edge reunion. From 1998 to 2001, the company performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland; some plays were written by Msamati.

Currently starring in Amadeus at the Royal Natiional Theatre ( 2016/17)

He has appeared in several theatrical productions in London, UK, including:

In November 2010 Msamati was appointed Artistic Director of British-African theatre company Tiata Fahodzi, until being succeeded in 2014 by Natalie Ibu. He has continued to work with Tiata Fahodzi, directing Boi Boi is Dead in February–March 2015.