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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Lanre Bakare Arts and culture correspondent

Slave Play writer criticises star casting but Kit Harington to feature in West End run

Jeremy O Harris
Jeremy O Harris says that for some audiences, plays can be ‘background to seeing their favourite celebrity’. Photograph: Christopher Smith/Invision/AP

The writer of Slave Play, the controversial Broadway production about race and sexuality that caused protests and broke Tony nomination records, has criticised commercial theatre’s dependency on casting celebrities, saying it turns performances into a “Disney World attraction”.

Jeremy O Harris said star casting – hiring big-name TV, film and even social media stars to perform in the West End and on Broadway – could dilute the theatre experience and was no guarantee of success.

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