Learn more about Paapa Essiedu before you see him in Death of England: Delroy.

The acclaimed stage and screen actor plays Delroy in Clint Dyer and Roy Williams’ State of the Union drama at new West End venue @sohoplace.

Paapa Essiedu has been making waves since joining the Royal Shakespeare Company straight out of drama school. His varied career has seen him combine classic drama with bold contemporary pieces and combine his theatre work with some notable film projects – including Black Mirror, Gangs of New YorkAnd I could destroy you.

Now he is back on stage and delivers a fiery monologue on the state of the nation in Death of England: Delroy. It is part of @sohoplaces exciting program with Roy Williams and Clint Dyer’s trio of Death of England plays in one season – the first time that audiences could experience them all at once.

This latest challenge should be no problem for the mega-talented and amazingly versatile Essiedu, who rose to fame in 2020 with his Bafta and Emmy-winning role in Michaela Coel’s I could destroy youwho has, however, shown impressive performances over the last decade.

Learn more about Essiedu’s theatre career before planning your trip to see him in this momentous West End event.

Book Death of England: Delroy Tickets at the London Theatre.

Essiedu had a real “a star is born” moment during Sam Mendes’ production, which starred Simon Russell Beale as Lear. Actor Sam Troughton fell ill in the middle of the show, so his stand-in Essiedu stepped in and played the role of Edmund for the rest of the show – to great acclaim.

Romeo and JulietBristol Tobacco Factory, 2015

Polina Kalinina’s fresh, youthful take on Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy is set in revolutionary Paris in 1968, complete with steampunk design and rave culture. Essiedu and Daisy Whalley were heartbreaking as hormone-driven youths who become entangled in both love and violence at a frightening rate.

hamletRoyal Shakespeare Theatre, 2016

Essiedu made history as the first black actor to play Hamlet for the RSC. Although much was made of contemporary elements such as graffiti spraying in Simon Godwin’s West Africa-set revival, the real highlight was Essiedu’s brilliant, intelligent performance, bringing spontaneity to the familiar monologues and howling despair.

Essiedu first worked with director Jamie Lloyd during his great Harold Pinter season, in which Lloyd directed the master’s one-acts and short plays. In this first episode, Essiedu showed his impressive range, from a searching husband in an elliptical play to a tortured prisoner in One for the street.

The ConvertYoung Vic, 2018

Essiedu played alongside Black Panther‘s Letitia Wright in this gripping historical drama written by another Black Panther Actor Danai Gurira played a painfully conflicted man living in 19th century colonial Zimbabwe, caught between different faiths, nationalities, beliefs and languages, in a well-received production by Ola Ince.

A numberOld Vic, 2022

Lennie James and Essiedu proved to be an electrifying duo in Polly Findlay’s 20th anniversary revival of Caryl Churchill’s play about human cloning. Essiedu delivered a tour de force, playing three different versions of James’ character’s son in an incredibly powerful meditation on identity, trauma, family and autonomy.

The effectNational Theatre, 2023

Essiedu reunites with Lloyd for this stunning production of Lucy Prebble’s play, in which two clinical trial volunteers, played by Essiedu and Taylor Russell, fall in love – but is it love or the drug? Essiedu was devastatingly charismatic, whether dancing flirtatiously or baring his soul, he was simply unforgettable.

Death of England: Delroy@sohoplace, 2024

Essiedu is back in the West End for the landmark Death of England Season at @sohoplace. He takes over the monologue from Delroy and plays a young black man whose white girlfriend is pregnant and who struggles with social and racial barriers and his own demons. Don’t miss your chance to see this extraordinary actor alone on stage.

Book Death of England: Delroy Tickets at the London Theatre.

Photo credits: Manuel Harlan, Craig Fuller, Marc Brenner