02 June 2024
Marco Gandolfi
Bill Kenwright Ltd, in association with Nica Burns, presents the National Theatre’s productions of the Death of England plays. Following their acclaimed world premieres at the National Theatre, between 2020 – 2023, Clint Dyer and Roy Williams’ three state of the nation plays, Death of England: Michael, Death of England: Delroy and Death of England: Closing Time will be performed together in the West End for the very first time as a unique theatrical event for a strictly limited season @sohoplace theatre.
Starring Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You, The Lazarus Project), Thomas Coombes (Baby Reindeer, Luther: The Fallen Sky), Erin Doherty (The Crown, Chloe) and Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Dune, Sex Education) and directed by Clint Dyer.
These three interconnected plays can be watched as a stand-alone experience or seen together. Across the three plays, connections and themes come together as Michael, Delroy, Denise and Carly navigate the joys and challenges of what it means to be British in 2024.
· Performances for Death of England: Michael start from 15 July, Death of England: Delroy starts from 23 July and Death of England: Closing Time from 22 August when all three plays will then be performed in rep until 28 September.
· Thomas Coombes (Baby Reindeer, Luther: The Fallen Sky) stars in Death of England: Michael, Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You, The Lazarus Project) stars in Death of England: Delroy and Erin Doherty (The Crown, Chloe) and Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Dune, Sex Education) star as Carly and Denise in Death of England: Closing Time.
· The Death of England plays are directed by Clint Dyer, Deputy Artistic Director of the National Theatre.
· Death of England: Michael (previously titled Death of England) and Death of England: Delroy originally played at the National Theatre in 2020, with Death of England: Closing Time playing in 2023.
· The Death of England plays are the final production in an exciting second year of programming @sohoplace following trailblazing productions of The Little Big Things and Red Pitch.
· Tickets are on sale at 12pm on Friday 17 May via @sohoplace
Clint Dyer said:
“’I’m honoured and excited to get this opportunity @sohoplace. The chance to deepen the symbolism of Death of England by placing the three updated plays together, whilst breathing new life into it with such an amazing cast, is nothing but thrilling for me and the team.”
Roy Williams said:
“I am made up beyond words that this is happening @sohoplace. It’s a wonderful opportunity for us to update the plays a little and to work with an almost entirely new cast. I have nothing but love and admiration for each actor embarking on this with us! At its heart, the Death of England plays are a state of the nation family saga and the Fletcher/Tomlin family still have much to say about England as it is now and the troubling times we are living in.”
Jenny Seagrove, Chairperson of Bill Kenwright Ltd said:
“We are thrilled to be once again partnering with long-standing friends and colleagues Clint Dyer and Nica Burns, to present an incredible cast in this exciting series of plays that hold a mirror up to society in 2024. Twenty years ago Bill transferred Clint Dyer’s production of The Big Life into the Apollo Theatre as the first British Black Musical to be presented in the West End and Bill collaborated with Nica on countless West End productions. I couldn’t think of two better partners to be working with on this wonderful project, as Bill Kenwright Ltd moves into a new chapter, building on the legacy of Bill’s incredible 50+ year career.”
Nica Burns said:
“Our intimate auditorium is a perfect setting for the audience and actors to connect with this fantastic, ambitious piece of theatre performed by a brilliantly talented company. Plays for today in a theatre for today.”
DEATH OF ENGLAND: MICHAEL
15 July – 28 September
Press performance: Tuesday 30 July, 4:30pm
A family in mourning. A man in crisis.
After the death of his dad, Michael is powerless and angry. In a state of heartbreak, he confronts the difficult truths about his father’s legacy and the country that shaped him. At the funeral, unannounced and unprepared, Michael decides it is time to speak.
Thomas Coombes stars in this scorching and fearless play which asks explosive and enduring questions about identity, race and class in Britain.
DEATH OF ENGLAND: DELROY
23 July – 28 September
Press performance: Tuesday 30 July, 7:30pm.
Unapologetically upwardly mobile and working as a bailiff, Delroy’s life spirals out of control on one surreal day as he races to get to the hospital where his girlfriend Carly is about to give birth.
Starring Paapa Essiedu, Death of England: Delroy is the searing story of a Black working class man searching for truth and confronting his relationship with Britain.
DEATH OF THE ENGLAND: CLOSING TIME
22 August – 28 September
Press performance: Wednesday 28 August, 7:30pm
There are two sides to every story.
Grieving the loss of the family shop with their dreams destroyed, Denise and daughter-in-law Carly are left to pick up the pieces of their relatives’ mistakes.
Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Erin Doherty play Denise and Carly in this thought-provoking drama that explores family dynamics, race, colonialism and cancel culture.
CAST
Paapa Essiedu
Paapa Essiedu is an acclaimed British actor with a career spanning television, film, and theatre. The London born actor has garnered many award nominations including Emmy and BAFTA TV nominations for his breakout performance in Michaela Coel’s era defining show, I May Destroy You and The Lazarus Project.
Recent projects include the National Theatre production of The Effect, written by Lucy Prebble and directed by Jamie Lloyd, which transferred to The Shed, New York. Paapa also starred in season 6 of the cult anthology series, Black Mirror, Demon 79, Season 1 & 2 of Sky thriller, The Lazarus Project, and Working Title/Universal Christmas movie THE GENIE, directed by Sam Boyd and written by Richard Curtis.
Next up Paapa will star opposite Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun, directed by Nora Fingscheidt and based on Amy Liptrot’s bestselling memoir. The film has screened at this year’s Sundance and Berlinale and will open the Edinburgh Film Festival.
Paapa is currently filming The Scurry, a comedy horror directed Craig Roberts and written by Tim Telling.
Further screen credits include The Capture (BBC1), Alex Garland’s Men (A24), Gangs Of London (HBO/Sky Atlantic), Anne Boleyn (Channel 5), Unsaid Stories (ITV), Press (Masterpiece/BBC One), Black Earth Rising (BBC Two), Kiri (Channel 4), The Miniaturist (BBC), short film Femme, which was nominated in the Best British Short category in the 2022 BAFTAs and won the BIFA Award for Best Short Film.
Further theatre credits include: A Number (Old Vic Theatre, directed by Lynsey Posner), Simon Godwin’s lauded production Hamlet at the RSC, The Merry Wives Of Windsor (RSC, directed by Philip Breen), King Lear (National Theatre, directed by Sam Mendes), Pass Over (Kiln Theatre, directed by Indhu Rubasingham).
Thomas Coombes
Theatre includes: A Kind of People (Royal Court), Blue Orange (Birmingham Rep), King Lear (Royal Exchange), Misfits (Queens Theatre), The Merchant Of Venice (The Globe), Barbarians for which Thomas won the Best Male Performance at the 2013 Offies - Off West End Theatre Awards (Tooting Arts Club), The Father (Trafalgar Studios), Single Spies (The Rose Theatre Kingston), Plastic (Old Red Lion), Finding Alice (Lyric Hammersmith/Tricycle), Shooting Clouds (Union Theatre), The Winslow Boy (Palace Theatre Westcliff).
Television includes: Baby Reindeer, The Acolyte (Star Wars), Miss Austen, Moonflower Murders, Slow Horses, Rain Dogs, Save Me, Save Me Too, Small Axe, Grace, EastEnders, Whitehouse Farm, London Kills, Endeavour, Hatton Garden, Knightfall, Prime Suspect 1973, Silent Witness, Cuffs, Jekyll and Hyde, The Scandalous Lady W, Wallander, Count Arthur Strong, Man Down, Atlantis, Suspects, The Honourable Woman, Him & Her: The Wedding, Life Of Crime, The Genius Of Turner.
Film includes: Luther: The Fallen Sun, Boiling Point, Living, Cottontail, Summerland.
Erin Doherty
Erin Doherty is one of the most talented and respected actors of her generation, playing leading roles across film, television and theatre.
Erin is best known for her break out performance as Princess Anne in Netflix’s The Crown. Erin was a 2018 Screen International Star of Tomorrow and a 2018 Evening Standard Rising Star. In 2020, Erin was honoured at the Newport Beach Film Festival as a ‘Breakout Honouree’ following her role of Princess Anne.
Doherty most recently played the lead in upcoming Disney Plus series A Thousand Blows. In 2022 Erin appeared at the National Theatre leading the cast of The Crucible as Abigail Williams. Erin played the lead in BBC One/Amazon Prime thriller series Chloe, which garnered five star reviews and critical acclaim for Erin. Erin will next be seen in new feature film Firebrand, opposite Jude Law, and in feature film Reawakening opposite Juliet Stevenson, both of which will have a theatrical release this year.
Erin attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, playing a range of leading roles during her three years of training. During this time, Doherty was selected to take part in the professional production of Pink Mist at the Bristol Old Vic, and was the winner of The Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year 2015.
Her debut performance upon graduation in 2015 was as Laura in Ellen McDougall’s The Glass Menagerie, after which Doherty was cast as Tamsin in Katherine Soper’s debut play Wish List (2016) at Manchester’s Royal Exchange and London’s Royal Court Theatre. Her performance was recognised by the Manchester Theatre Awards, naming Doherty as Best Actress in a Studio Production 2017.
In 2017, she appeared as Fiz in BAFTA Award-winning writer Jack Thorne’s Junkyard, which earned her rave reviews: “Doherty is the star here, and by rights will soon be a star full-stop” WhatsOnStage. Later that same year, she took on the leading role in Aykbourn’s The Divide at the Edinburgh International Festival, remounting it early in 2018 at London’s Old Vic Theatre. The Telegraph noted her “luminous central performance".
Also in 2017, Doherty received high critical acclaim in The Young Vic’s production of the one woman show My Name Is Rachel Corrie. The Guardian applauded her stunning performance, marking her out as “one of the year’s great discoveries”.
Doherty closed 2017 with a run at London’s Old Vic Theatre, playing the leading role of Belle opposite Rhy Ifans’ Scrooge in Matthew Warchus’ production of A Christmas Carol. In 2019 Doherty was once again on stage in Wolfie at Theatre 503.
Doherty’s inaugural television role was as a guest star in the BBC’s Call The Midwife in 2016, followed by the BBC adaptation of Les Miserables in 2018 before landing the role of Princess Anne in Netflix’s world-wide hit series The Crown.
Sharon Duncan-Brewster
Sharon Duncan-Brewster’s outstanding skills as an actress are reflected in the diverse range of theatre, television and film credits she has acquired over the years. Most recently, she was seen in the blockbuster film Dune for Warner Bros, playing the role of Dr Liet Kynes, Enola Holmes on Netflix and as Tula Quik in Sky’s drama Intergalactic.
Theatre includes: Victory Condition (Royal Court Theatre), Meet Me At Dawn (Traverse Theatre), The Almighty Sometimes (Manchester Royal Exchange), Swallow (Traverse Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Liverpool Everyman) and The Not Black and White Season (Tricycle Theatre).
Television includes: Sex Education (Netflix), Years & Years (BBC), The Long Song (BBC), Top Boy (Channel 4), The Bible (History Channel), Cucumber (Channel 4), The Mimic (Channel 4), Bad Girls (ITV), Doctor Who (BBC) and EastEnders (BBC).
Film includes: The Intent 2: The Come Up, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Disney/Lucas films) and Three and Out (Rovinge).
CREATIVES
Clint Dyer – Co-Writer and Director
Clint Dyer is the Deputy Artistic Director of the National Theatre. Over the course of his award-winning career, he has worked across theatre, film and TV as an actor, writer and director. His work at the National Theatre includes the role of Cutler in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, he has co-written and directed the Death of England series, including the BAFTA nominated filmed episode Death of England: Face to Face and, mostly recently, he directed a critically acclaimed production of Othello. Other recent directing credits include Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Barley Musical in the West End. He is also set to write and direct, Ali, a new musical celebrating the life and legacy of Muhammad Ali.
Roy Williams – Co-Writer
Roy Williams began writing plays in 1990 and is now arguably one of the country's leading dramatists. In 2000 he was the joint winner of The George Devine Award and in 2001 he was awarded the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright. He was awarded the OBE for Services to Drama in the 2008 Birthday Honours List and was made a fellow of The Royal Society of Literature in 2018.
Roy Williams’ work in theatre includes Death of England, Death of England: Delroy, Death of England: Closing Time (all co-written with Clint Dyer), Baby Girl, Slow Time and Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads for the National Theatre; The Lonely Londoners for Jermyn Street Theatre; Sucker Punch (Olivier Award nomination for Best Play and joint winner of the Alfred Fagon Award), Fallout, Clubland and Lift Off at the Royal Court. Days of Significance for the RSC; Wildefire, Local Boy, The Firm and The Fellowship at Hampstead Theatre. Out West and Absolute Beginners at Lyric Hammersmith; The No-Boys Cricket Club and Kingston 14 at Stratford East; and Soul: The Untold Story of Marvin Gaye for Hackney Empire at the Royal & Derngate.
His work for TV and film includes Death Of England: Face to Face (BAFTA nomination for Best single drama) Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle (BAFTA nominated for Best Short Form Programme), Fallout, Babyfather, Offside and Fast Girls.
Radio includes The Likes of Us, The Midwich Cuckoos (adaptation), Faith Hope & Glory, Bess Loves Porgy and eight series of The Interrogation.
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