New Play Statement of Regret by Kwame Kwei-Armah
Statement of Regret is Kwame Kwei-Armah’s third play for the National Theatre. He won an Evening Standard award for most promising playwright for Elmina’s Kitchen (2003) which was also nominated for an Olivier award for best new play. This was followed in 2005 by the politically barbed Fix Up.
Statement of Regret, a new play by Kwame Kwei-Armah, opens in the Cottesloe on 14th November, directed by Jeremy Herrin. The full cast is Angel Coulby, Oscar James, Trevor Laird, Colin McFarlane, Chu Omambala, Javone Prince, Clifford Samuel, Ellen Thomas and Don Warrington. The production is designed by Mike Britton, with lighting by Natasha Chivers and sound by Yvonne Gilbert.
Kwaku Mackenzie, played by Don Warrington, founder of a Black policy think tank, hits the bottle after his father’s death. As media interest in the once dynamic Institute fades, his team grows fractious and then, disastrously, he favours a young Oxford scholar over his own devastated son. When, in a vain attempt to regain influence, he publicly champions divisions within the Black community, the consequences are shattering.
Kwame Kwei-Armah’s third play for the National Theatre takes a punchy, provocative look at the Black British experience and the need, or not, for solidarity. His previous works include Elmina’s Kitchen, which won the 2003 Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright and transferred to the West End, and Fix Up.
[4 stars]
The London Paper, Metro, Sunday Express
‘Kwame kwei-Armah is back in blazing form…a sparky production in which ideas fizz and emotions sizzle.’
Daily Telegraph
‘Kwei-Armah’s arguments are fascinating…the play is full of dramatic power.’
Guardian
‘Arresting, incisive, provocative.’
The Times
‘An illuminating state-of-the-nation play.’
Independent on Sunday
‘Jeremy Herrin’s witty, well acted production.’
Metro
‘Don Warrington is outstanding.’ Daily Express ‘Honest, quizzical and daring.’
Financial Times
Statement of Regret is supported by JPMorgan through the JPMorgan Art of Learning Programme
