Giles Terera withdraws from National Theatre's Death of England: Delroy following emergency surgery

Award-winning actor Giles Terera has withdrawn from the National Theatre's re-opening production of Death of England: Delroy.

In a statement the venue said: "We are very sorry to announce that Giles Terera will no longer be appearing in the production of Death of England: Delroy following emergency surgery. Giles is recovering well, and the issue was not COVID-19 related, however having been informed that he will require a recuperation period of six weeks, very unfortunately, this means he will be unable to perform as previously announced in this run of the production. We all send him our best wishes for a speedy recovery. "

The show will now star Michael Balogun (Macbeth), who had been understudying the role during rehearsals.

Clint Dyer and Roy Williams' new play exists in the same universe as their recent play Death of England, and is set to reopen the National's Olivier Theatre with an in-the-round configuration. It will start performances on 21 October, with the creative team including set and costume designers are Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey and ULTZ, with lighting design by Jackie Shemesh, sound design by Pete Malkin and Benjamin Grant.