Testament

Testament (Andrew Brooks) is a rapper, poet and dramatist. His work often ties in social commentary and magic realism and is frequently multi-disciplinary. His writing credits include work for the Royal Court London, the Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester, English Touring Theatre, Talawa Theatre and Leeds Playhouse.

He wrote the play Black Men Walking (Royal Court London/Royal Exchange, Manchester), nominated for Best New Play at the UK Theatre awards 2018 and the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain Best Play 2018. His play Orpheus in the Record Shop (Leeds Playhouse/Opera North) was broadcast on BBC Four TV in 2021. His Radio 4 drama The Beatboxer was nominated for an Imison award in 2019; this was followed by his heartfelt social-audio play Daughter which was nominated for the prestigious Prix Europa in 2022 and BBC Audio Drama award 2023 for Best Audio Drama.

In 2019 Testament was Channel 4 writer in residence for the Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester and Black Nature writer in residence for the Yorkshire Dales District Park in 2024. He is proud to be part of the Hot Poets eco-poetry collective.

He has also written essays, contributing to Gift of Gravity and Light (Hodder & Stoughton, 2021) alongside his heroes Simon Armitage and Bernardine Evaristo.

Testament is also a writer on the acclaimed Netflix animated vampire show Castlevania Nocturne which was nominated for Best Adaptation at the Game awards 2023. He has also written spoken word and rap for Disney Plus’ The Full Monty TV series.

He enjoys teaching and facilitating writing workshops from schools to universities in the UK and abroad. He is a Guinness World Record-holding beatboxer.