What Shadows at Park Theatre

Published: 14 August 2017
Reporter: Sheila Connor

What Shadows

Ian McDiarmid will return to the role of MP Enoch Powell in Chris Hannan's play What Shadows directed by Roxana Silbert, telling the story of Powell's explosive "Rivers of Blood" speech and, 30 years later, its effect on a woman trying to make sense of her life.

Powell's controversial words about immigration shattered the childhood of Oxford academic and daughter of a Caribbean immigrant Rose Cruickshank, who wants to understand what led him to make the speech that defined a generation. Will a meeting with the man himself give her the answers she desperately craves?

Director Roxana Silbert said, "as we near the 50th anniversary of Enoch Powell's explosive 'Rivers of Blood' speech, the nation finds itself again facing profound and difficult questions about national identity and attitudes to immigration. Chris's powerful play is a scorching interrogation of prejudices and how a bitterly divided country moves forward in the wake of a crises. It couldn't be more necessary."

Nicholas Le Prevost plays Clem Jones, Amelia Donkor is Rose Cruickshank and Joyce Cruickshank, Paula Wilcox is Grace Hughes and Majorie Jones, Waleed Akhtar is Saeed, Ameet Chana is Sultan and Doctor Sharma and Joanne Pearce is Sofia and Pamela.

It runs from 27 September to 28 October 2017.

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