Review: Death Of England: Michael/Delroy (@SohoPlace)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Since opening just under two years ago, the West End’s newest theatre @SohoPlace has continually impressed with diverse but consistently strong programming. From Shakespeare to world premieres transfers of acclaimed plays, they have never missed. The theatre is now attempting its boldest programming yet, running three shows together in repertory as National Theatre’s Death Of England: The Plays trilogy takes to the stage simultaneously, hoping to wow audiences like these shows have done in the past while also making amends for their troubled past. The first two instalments of this trilogy Death of England: Michael and Death of England: Delroy held their press night back to back last night, with the final chapter Death Of England: Closing Time following in four weeks. Would these first two shows keep up the impossibly high standard @SohoPlace have managed over the last two years?

The concept of Death of England has slowly grown over the past decade. Originating as a 10 minute micro-play in 2014, the full version of the first play completed a run at National Theatre in 2020 just before Covid shut theatres down. The constant changing rules of what theatres were allowed to do during this time affected the planned sequel Death of England: Delroy, forcing an early close. They both now get a further life with an updated and refreshed script drawing a close to a decades worth of writing.

All three Death Of England plays can be viewed as standalone entities but they form part of an interconnected world where connections and theme come together to create a different viewpoint and add to the richness of the story. The overarching theme of the three plays sees four characters navigate what it means to be British in 2024, with Death of England: Michael centred around one man’s struggle to understand his father’s legacy and what he may have unconsciously inherited from him, following his funeral. Death Of England: Delroy sees Michael’s best friend try to make sense of his own identity and how he is seen by others as he grapples with adulthood and fatherhood, while dealing with events from Michael and his family.

I deliberated whether to write these as two separate reviews or combine them together. After all, these are two separate plays that form part of the same universe and can be treated individually. However, the two plays back-to-back formed a bigger experience that added to my enjoyment and understanding of both of them and, as such, I decided it is best to do one review as both. Crucially, the quality didn’t waiver from one to the other and so the star rating and my overall experience would not be changed by either one,

Clint Dyer and Roy Williams’ writing consistently impresses in both Michael and Delroy’s stories. In a beautifully authentic style of storytelling, the writing is given room to breathe, allowing the single cast members that occupy the stage on each show to really let the words get used to allow maximum impact. The writing is regularly raw and told with an unflinching honesty with the passion in the text leaping from the page to resonate off the stage. The ambition of any great play is its hope to connect with an audience in some way, whether they can relate in any shape or form or not. This is effortlessly achieved in both of the first Death Of England plays. Through the nature of the writing, it is easy to forget you are in a theatre with hundreds of other people and can be fooled into thinking this is a private audience as you witness one character paint a picture of their rich world and the weird and wonderful people they have in it.

Racism forms a central theme in both of these plays as the question of what it means to be English is asked in various forms. While both Michael and Delroy have different perspectives on this, both share one trait on how conflicted they are when it comes to identity and how they define it. While standalone, each play weighs up these conflicting feelings in a glorious way, it is when compared to one another that both plays are taken to new depths. This is where Dyer and Williams’ writing truly shines, with their no-holds-barred attempts to unravel the prejudices that have dogged culture and society for generations still sadly feeling as relevant as ever in an unafraid approach to really poke into why this is and the impact it has on all walks of life. The repercussions of these racist ideals move both stories along as Michael attempts to make sense of his father’s legacy and whether he shares those feelings or unintentionally inherited it, while, as a Black man, Delroy faces a very different situation as we see from his side, just what he has to deal with on a day to day basis and how it threatens to change his life.

Writer Clint Dyer also directs both plays, knowing exactly the best way to bring these stories and his and Williams’ words to life. Where Death of England needs to connect with its audience in order to land its themes, the obvious connection in Dyer’s direction to his writing effortlessly allows this. Another testament to the execution in Dyer’s direction is how it perfectly utilises the space of @SohoPlace, perhaps better than any other production I have seen there. Through Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey and ULTZ’s simple but effective set design featuring a St George’s cross stretching across the floor surrounded by an audience, both Thomas Coombes (Michael) and Paapa Essiedu (Delroy) wander around the stalls level audience, picking up props (some representing other cha, handing them out and interacting throughout. It is this demolishing of the fourth wall that allows for the stories to connect as the intimate nature creates something deeply personal. This heightens the emotions and raises the stakes of both plays  - while some moments may prove uncomfortable, the intimate nature of the staging is one of the biggest aspects of the success of Death Of England. There will be moments of laughter and moments of sorrow, but there is never a moment where you are failing to feel anything and that is a marker of a true success of a play (or plays, in this case).

The production elements in both Death Of England: Michael and Death of England: Delroy further elevate the source material. Benjamin Grant and Pete Malkin’s sound design transforms @SohoPlace into an atmospheric setting where echoes of dialogue play out and ominous sounds deliberately threaten to drown out the actors, setting the scene and allowing us to step into their mind to get a sense of how they are feeling. Equally impressive is Jackie Shemesh’s stunning lighting design that always creates a beautiful aesthetic, often plunging the stage into darkness, save from a glowing red light surrounding the cross. It is one powerful scene in Delroy that lets the lighting shine (pun intended) as sections of the audience are gradually lit up in a powerful sequence and one of the standout moments of both plays.;

While the writing, direction and production value all impress in equal measure, there is one aspect of both plays that takes Death Of England to a stratospheric level, and that is the performances themselves. Having to remain on a stage for a non-stop 100 minutes, channelling a variety of characters and taking an audience through the intricacies of their story in such a personal and exposing way must be an exhausting experience, but both Thomas Coombes and Paapa Essiedu more than rise to the occasion, delivering two of the strongest performances I have seen in a while.

As Michael, Thomas Coombes gives a larger-than-life portrayal which slowly ebbs away to reveal the complexities of the situation and conflicted nature he finds himself in. Coombes is a master at embodying this, making the audience feel every emotion he is going through and creating an affinity to the character who we also feel conflicting feelings for. Coombes has such a confidence and captivating nature that thrills throughout, with every interaction with the audience feeling authentic and furthering the narrative. His emotive moments prove to be big, particularly one climactic scene proving awe-inspiring in its execution with Coombes truly delivering a masterclass performance.

Paapa Essiedu brings something completely different in his turn as Delroy, making his mark felt from the opening moment as we see the character in a confused and erratic state. Essiedu has to go on a challenging journey through his time as Delroy, as his character struggles with who he is and how others see him. The way Essiedu embodies this is astonishing to watch, in a sensational performance that sets the bar high in its opening moments and remains there until the final beat. The way he interacts with the audience felt more improvised than the previous play, with some brilliantly personal references in regards to it being press night and one eager audience member’s willingness to help him get a good review (as if any help would be needed in a play as striking as this). The result is a compelling performance that astounds at every turn.

Staging three plays from the same series in one theatre at the same time is a bold and ambitious task, with the option of seeing all three plays back to back on select days in August. Fortune favours the brave though and this is one move that has truly paid off. Feeling like event theatre, the first two instalments in this Death Of England trilogy encapsulated theatre at its very best. With performances every bit as incredible as the flawless writing and creative direction, both Michael and Delroy prove to be consistently compelling shows, impossible to separate. While it is possible to see each show on its own, I would recommend seeing them all to add layers to the already rich writing and see your own perspectives change as more is revealed from both Michael and Delroy’s world. Feeling like event theatre, these back to back performances created a powerful piece of theatre and has me longing to see what the final chapter has in store.

Death Of England: The Plays is at @SohoPlace until 28th September. Dates for each of the three plays and tickets at www.sohoplace.org

Photos by Helen Murray