Kele Okereke announces theatre debut

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Kele Okereke has announced his theatre debut in 'Leave The Remain'.

The Bloc Party frontman has announced his first stage project, scoring the new play - directed by Robby Graham - alongside Matt Jones.

The production, which opens in Hammersmith in January, follows the story of a young gay couple suddenly faced with an uncertain future.

The story is "told through a mixture of music, drama and movement" and the 'Streets Been Talkin' hitmaker drew from his own experiences while creating the soundtrack to the play.

He said: "'Leave to Remain' is the story of what happens when a marriage forces two very different families to come together.

"For the music for this project I took cues from the records that my parents would play in our house when I was growing up, West African high-life music, and I tried to combine those sounds with the electronic dance music I hear in clubs today.

"It was important to me to make something that represented the meeting of two very different worlds."

The show will feature Olivier Award nominated actor Tyrone Huntley in the lead role of Obi, with the full cast to be announced shortly.

The musical features songs such as 'Not The Drugs Talking', which gives off a similar vibe to the electro-rock sound in Kele's debut solo album and Bloc Party's 'Intimacy'.

The musician and his boyfriend of almost 10 years became fathers to a daughter in 2016 to and he knows that gay couples can provide as much love as a traditional family setup.

He said: said: "I don't feel it's my role to explain myself to people or explain how I live my life. There will be some people who don't get it. There are always going to be people that will have a problem with you and you don't have to go round appeasing them.

"You just have to do you in the best way you can. That's what I'm going to instill in my daughter."