Please note: This production contains strobe/flashing lights, strong language and adult themes, including references to slavery, racism, sexual abuse, drug and alcohol abuse.
To download our Self Care Guide for the plays, please click here
About The Show
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 ENGLAND: THE PLAYS
Following acclaimed seasons at the National Theatre, Clint Dyer and Roy Williams’ extraordinary series of three state of the nation plays, DEATH OF ENGLAND, will be performed together for the very first time for a strictly limited season @sohoplace.
These three interconnected plays are, by turns, exhilarating, profoundly moving, funny but furious, and deeply theatrical. Watch one as a standalone experience or discover the connections between two or three of the plays as Michael, Delroy, Denise and Carly navigate the joys and challenges of what it means to be British in 2024.
Starring Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You, Gangs of London), Thomas Coombes (Baby Reindeer), Erin Doherty (The Crown) and Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Dune) and directed by Clint Dyer, the “uniquely brilliant” (Evening Standard) DEATH OF ENGLAND is set to be the theatrical event of the summer.,
Show Dates
23rd July 2024 - 28th September 2024Duration
100 minutes, no intervalAge Recommendation
14+
Reviews
★★★★‘Paapa Essiedu is sensational…a must-see performance’
The Guardian
★★★★‘A tour de force performance’
WhatsOnStage
★★★★‘Full of rage, swagger and furious feeling’
Evening Standard
★★★★★‘A one-man cavalry charge of a production’
Broadway World
Cast
Paapa Essiedu
Delroy
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).
Ashley D. Gayle
Understudy Delroy
Ashley trained at Guildford School of Acting.
Theatre Credits include: Bear in Bear Snores On (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Conor in Exhibitionists (Elphin Productions & James Seabright); Marley’s Ghost/ Fezziwig/ Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol (Theatre Royal Windsor); Caliban/Antonio in The Tempest (Regents Park Open Air Theatre; The Unicorn Theatre); Actor 3 in On The Ropes (Park Theatre); Smith The Weaver in Henry VI: Rebellion (RSC); Edward IV in Henry VI: Wars Of The Roses (RSC); Edward IV in Richard III (RSC); Laertes in Hamlet (Theatre Royal Windsor); The Cherry Orchard (Theatre Royal Windsor); Rufus/Leo/Lout/Young Man in The Lady in the Van (Theatre Royal Windsor); Sam in Holes (UK Tour); George in Stop Kiss (Above the Stag Theatre); Mandras in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (UK Tour and West End); Shakespeare in Love (UK Tour); The Duchess of Malfi (RSC); The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich (RSC); Othello (The Globe Theatre); Jay Johnson in The Realness (Hackney Downs Studio); Mike in Ring of Fire (Courtyard Theatre)
Television & Film credits include: Marcellus in Hamlet (Feature Film, BKL Productions); Cedric Dunn in Turning Point (Short, Sweet Patootee); Jacob Hunter in I Love You (short, Watch Out Entertainment); Masked Leader in Nobody Can (Lady Lykez Music Video); Chris in Noose (short, Central Film School); School Boy in The Whistle Blowers (Television, Carnival Films);
Ashley has also featured in TV commercials for Trust Two, Reed.com, McDonald’s and Mercedes-Benz.
Creative
Clint Dyer and Roy Williams
Author
Clint Dyer
Director
Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey
Co-Set & Costume Design
ULTZ
Co-Set & Costume Design
Jackie Shemesh
Lighting Design
Benjamin Grant
Co-Sound Design
Pete Malkin
Co-Sound Design
Chris Davey
Associate Lighting Designer
Anastasia Osei-Kuffour
Associate Director
M
T
W
T
F
S
S
Please note: Photography and recording of any kind is strictly prohibited.
The producers cannot guarantee the appearance of any particular artist at any performance, as this is subject to a variety of factors including illness, injury, or events beyond the producers’ control. No refunds or exchanges will be offered as a result of an artist’s unavailability to perform at any performance.