Acting community show support for Francesca Amewudah-Rivers amid racist abuse
Over 800 actors, largely made up of Black women and non-binary individuals, have banded together to sign an open letter in support of Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, who recently faced an influx of online racial abuse for her casting the London West End production of Romeo & Juliet alongside Tom Holland.
The letter was initiated by actor Susan Wokoma and playwright Somalia Nonyé Seaton. It condemns the racist abuse directed at Amewudah-Rivers for her role in the forthcoming theatre adaptation of the classic William Shakespeare play.
The open statement has so far been signed by prominent actors like Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim and Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Lolly Adefope, Freema Agyeman, Wunmi Mosaku, and Tamara Lawrance.
It calls out the vicious cycle of systemic racism in the entertainment industry, with the hate directed at “huge rising talent” Amewudah-Rivers demonstrating the “familiar horror that many of us visible Black dark skinned performers have experienced.”
The message also says the “twisted ugly abuse” is “too much to bear” and reflects on those “so empty and barren in their own lives that they must meddle in hateful abuse.”
This follows a statement released by the Jamie Lloyd Company calling for “the barrage of deplorable racial abuse” to stop, adding that “we insist that they are free to create work without facing online harassment.”
The open letter reassures actors like Amewudah-Rivers who are facing abuse that they are seen and that those signing “see the art you manage to produce with not only the pressures that your white colleagues face but with the added traumatic hurdle of misogynoir.”
Amewudah-Rivers will be joined by Holland for Romeo & Juliet along with Freema Agyeman, Michael Balogun, Tomiwa Edun, Mia Jerome, Daniel Quinn-Toye and Ray Sesay. The show is set to run at Duke of York’s Theatre from May 11th to August 3rd, marking Amewudah-Rivers’ West End debut. The actor is no stranger to Shakespeare productions, however, having previously starred in Macbeth and Othello at various London theatres.
Tickets for Romeo & Juliet reportedly sold out in under two hours, showing that anticipation for the production far outweighs the prejudiced backlash pervading social media. The show is set to be a guaranteed one to remember, promising to be “a pulsating new vision of Shakespeare’s immortal tale of wordsmiths, rhymers, lovers and fighters.”
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.