Anni Domingo on Ageism and Doing a PhD in your 70s

"You can't make a difference unless you have a seat at the table." – Anni DomingoIn our first Global Souths Hub podcast, our host Bethlehem Attfield talks to actress, director and writer, Anni Domingo on what it's like to study a PhD in your 70s.Anni Domingo was born in London, England, to Sierra Leonean parents, who when she was four years old decided to travel back to Africa. After spending her early years in Sierra Leone, Anni returned to the UK. She was accepted onto a drama course to train as a performer and, in her early twenties, qualified as a teacher of Speech and Drama at Rose Bruford College. During her three years of study, she worked with the BBC at Bush House, contributing to radio plays broadcast across the Commonwealth.In her mid-fifties, Anni completed a first-class BA (Honours) in Literature, a further first-class BA (Honours) in Humanities with Creative Writing from The Open University, and an MA in Creative Writing from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. She later received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree. She is now working on Ominira, her second novel, as part of her PhD at Kings College London.Anni's acting career spans theatre, television, radio, and film. You may know her from her appearance on screens in numerous television series and feature films, including Outland (1981) to Wondrous Oblivion (2003) and more recently, in 2019, she appeared in several episodes of EastEnders on BBC One. Her extensive theatre work includes productions such as Blood Wedding at the National Theatre, Treasure Island at Birmingham Rep, The Last Bloom at the Traverse Theatre, The Crucible at Regent’s Park, The Children’s Hour and Yerma at the Royal Exchange, Blithe Spirit at the Leicester Haymarket, and No Boys Cricket Club at Theatre Royal Stratford East and she has performed on stage in Inua Ellams’ adaptation of Three Sisters at the National Theatre.