Guyana-born British writer Michael Abbensetts is probably best rembered for his landmark 1978 TV show Empire Road, the first British TV show to be written, performed and directed by Black British creatives. But he was a playwright by trade, even if it’s rare his works are revived. Alterations ran at the now shuttered Hampstead fringe theatre the New End back in 1978 and hasn’t been revived since (though there was a radio adaptation in 1980). That is there hasn’t been until now: in a bold piece of programming, Lynette Linton will direct a major revival in the National Theatre’s Lyttelton (well over ten times bigger than the New End).
Making his NT debut, Arinzé Kene will star as Walker Holt, a tailor with big dreams who finds himself faced with a seemingly impossible order that he must complete within 24 hours.
New material has been written by Trish Cooke – it’s not entirely clear what this involves, but the cast of 11 is considerably larger than that of its original four-hander incarnation.
