Bright O. Richards

is an actor and writer. In 1993 he fled the Liberian civil war and came to the Netherlands. Richards went to theatre school in Arnhem and then acted in various productions and companies. With New Dutch Connections he won the prestigious Gieskes-Strijbis Podium Prize in 2017, for "being an opinionated thespian who builds bridges between people who don't know each other yet." His 2009 play As I Left My Father's House tells his own story of flight, interspersed with the stories of a Jew in hiding and an Islamic refugee. Through New Dutch Connections, Richards aims to bring together old and new Dutch citizens. In 2018 he created The Bright Side of Life with Theater Utrecht, inspired by the arrival of more than 60,000 refugees in the Netherlands and the resulting challenges for both these people and Dutch society.