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A STAR of the films Kidulthood and Adulthood is to take the lead role in a new play based on the murder of teenager Kodjo Yenga.
The 16-year-old A-level student was stabbed by a gang in Hammersmith in 2007. Now Femi Oyeniran, 22, will star in Kenzo, which focuses on the consequences of the murder of a young boy.
He achieved success as the character Moony in Kidulthood in 2006, and in its sequel last year.
Kenzo was written by Congo-born Shana Mongwanga, 31. She met Kodjo - who was born in the same country - a year before he died. "He struck me as a very intelligent, bright and brilliant young man," said Ms Mongwanga. "The play is a fictionalised account based on the day I met Kodjo, but it also questions the role and responsibilities of black fathers and black communities and asks what we are doing in London to prevent these killings."
Ms Mongwanga, from Hounslow, said she was also inspired by the death of another Congolese man, Tyno Kavuala, 20, within weeks of Kodjo's death. She began the play after attending a Royal Court writing course. Oyeniran, who has a law degree from the London School of Economics, grew up on a council estate off Holloway Road and now lives in Tottenham. He went to the same school as Kodjo in Labroke Grove, although they were four years apart. He said he was impressed with the way the play dealt with knife crime.
Kodjo was ambushed by about a dozen teenagers armed with knives and bats. He died in his girlfriend's arms after being stabbed in the heart. Last year two youths, aged 17 and 14, were sentenced to life in jail.
Kenzo is on tonight and next Monday at the Old Red Lion Theatre, Islington.
