Pearl Mackie is reluctant to say the name of her dream role. Especially while she’s in the dressing room of a theatre, anyway. “I don’t know if anyone is superstitious in this building, but I certainly am!” she laughs, her grin bright and beaming through the computer screen. “I’d like to play Lady M one day, but I can’t say more than that.” The Brixton-born actor is at the National Theatre, so mentions of Shakespeare’s Scottish play are, as old thespian lore goes, forbidden. But before she ever has a chance to take on Lady Macbeth, Mackie must first complete a project that she admits could be the most important work she’ll ever do.
The 36-year-old former Doctor Who star is in the new play, Grenfell: in the words of survivors by South African novelist and playwright Gillian Slovo. A verbatim piece, it tells the stories of the people of Grenfell Tower before, during and after the brutal tower block blaze in west London on 14 June 2017 that claimed 72 lives and injured at least 70. Despite residents’ repeated warnings about the safety of the building, no action was taken. Then, the 24-storey tower caught aflame in the middle of the night, completely destroying hundreds of homes and changing a community for ever.
