I May Destroy You star Paapa Essiedu said: “Theatre is where I came from and for me it was important to take part in the recovery.”
(Picture: )I May Destroy You star Paapa Essiedu said it was important to him to take part in “the recovery” of London’s theatre from the pandemic.
Theatres were still closed when the actor, who was nominated for an Emmy for his role in Michaela Coel’s acclaimed drama, agreed to appear in the Old Vic’s revival of Caryl Churchill’s A Number.
The former Royal Shakespeare Company actor said: “I just feel it’s a really important time to be doing a play obviously and the theatre has been hit so hard by the last two years.
“Theatre is where I came from and for me it was important to take part in the recovery so I was really excited to do it and I think the audiences so far have been brilliant, they’ve been amazing, they’ve been really with us”.
His co-star Lennie James, who plays his father in the two-man show, said they had to “hope for the best and prepare for the worst” with rigorous Covid testing and mask wearing in the building.
He said: “It’s a two hander so it’s dangerous on one level if one of us goes down it goes down “But it’s manageable with it being two of us and us taking responsibility to make sure the play gets on and to make sure the play stays on and to a greater or lesser extent we’re asking the same of the audience.
“We’re asking them to do these two things so they can see the play and so others can see the play and complete the run.”
