For anyone questioning the power of art to change lives, look no further than Michael Balogun. He was at his lowest ebb, sitting in a prison cell, when he had an “epiphany” – he should try to become an actor. Fast forward a decade or so, and with a series of performances at the National Theatre under his belt, next week he steps out onto the stage of the Gillian Lynne Theatre to make his West End debut.
“When I got into acting, I didn’t really look too far ahead, but I remember walking through the West End thinking, ‘I wonder if I’ll ever be on one of those stages.’ And now it’s happening. It’s a dream come true,” he tells me when we meet in a rehearsal space in Canning Town. He tries not to think too hard about how far he has come though: “I learnt it doesn’t help me as an actor to bask in the magnitude of what I’m doing sometimes.”
