Eight hundred Black performers signed a letter of support for Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, who is starring alongside Tom Holland in the Jamie Lloyd Company’s production of Romeo & Juliet, which runs from May 11 through August 3 at Duke of York’s Theatre in London. Amewudah-Rivers is set to play Juliet in the production, alongside Holland as Romeo, and has received a torrent of abuse online since the casting was released. “For a casting announcement of a play to ignite such twisted ugly abuse is truly embarrassing for those so empty and barren in their own lives that they must meddle in hateful abuse,” the letter, which was organized by Susan Wokoma (Taskmaster, Enola Holmes) and playwright Somalia Nonyé Seaton (Fall of the Kingdom, Rise of the Footsoldier), says. “Too many times Black performers — particularly Black actresses — are left to face the storm of online abuse after committing the crime of getting a job on their own.”
Signees of the letter, which was originally published in the Guardian, include Lashana Lynch (The Woman King), Lolly Adefope (Shrill), and Sheila Atim (Underground Railroad). It follows a statement from the Jamie Lloyd Company, which did not reference Amewudah-Rivers by name. “Following the announcement of our Romeo & Juliet cast, there has been a barrage of deplorable racial abuse online directed toward a member of our company,” the statement read. “This must stop.”
