The West End premiere of Jeremy O. Harris' Slave Play begins June 29 at London's Noël Coward Theatre, where performances will continue through September 21. The production is a transfer from the play's two Broadway runs, with Robert O'Hara back at the helm.
The cast is led by Game of Thrones' Kit Harington as Jim, Olivia Washington (Breaking) as Kaneisha, Fisayo Akinade (Heartstopper) as Gary, and Aaron Heffernan (Atlanta) as Phillip. Alumni from the work's 2018 Off-Broadway and 2019 Broadway bows are back to reprise their performances as well, including James Cusati-Moyer as Dustin, Chalia La Tour as Teá, Annie McNamara as Alana, and Irene Sofia Lucio as Patricia.
Understudies Troy Alexander, Dimitri Gripari, Maite Jauregui, Prince Kundai, and Malikah Mcherrin-Cobb complete the cast. Casting is by Amy Ball, with original U.S. casting by Taylor Williams.
The work is set at the MacGregor Plantation in the Antebellum Old South, but nothing is as it seems. The Broadway bow became the most Tony-nominated play in Tony Awards history, receiving 12 nods, though winning none.
As during the Broadway run, Black Out nights will be held, offering Black audience members a special opportunity to see the show with an all-Black audience. Black Out performances are planned for July 17 and September 17. The plan has been somewhat controversial, at least to U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who erroneously described the Noël Coward Theatre as receiving public funding (the commercial venue does not) and characterized the plan as "wrong and divisive." Harris responded publicly soon after the comments were made, pointing out that Black Out nights have been held previously in London for productions of Tambo and Bones and Daddy, and, most importantly, that Black Out nights do not turn away any audience members due to their race. There has been no announced change to Slave Play's planned Black Out nights, nor further response from Sunak.
The production is also offering low-cost seats through two programs: 30 tickets for each performance will be made available on a pay-what-you-can program, with tickets becoming available each Wednesday the week before the performance, beginning June 26. Those tickets will be available for as low as £1. An additional 10 tickets will be released on each performance day for £20 each, with a maximum of two per person in both cases.
The entire original creative team is back alongside O'Hara, including scenic designer Clint Ramos, costume designer Dede Ayite, lighting designer Jiyoun Chang, and composer and sound designer Lindsay Jones. Also on the creative team for the London bow are intimacy and fight director Claire Warden, U.S. choreographer Byron Easley, U.K. choreographer Jade Hackett, and voice and dialect coach Aundrea Fudge.
The London premiere is produced by Empire Street Productions, Seaview Productions, and bb2. Visit SlavePlayLondon.com for more.
