Abi Gouhad was born in British Somaliland and spent his childhood in Aden. He was the first black actor to trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He was subsequently a founder member of Common Stock and worked with Shared Experience and Temba. Gouhad "was a core member of ‘Theatre Melange’, which cast actors from different ethnic groups, from its formation in 1996." (http://www.kayd.org/?p=803).