National Theatre to stream Death of England: Delroy for free and announces show's return in 2021

The National Theatre has announced it will stream its cancelled production of Death of England: Delroy for free on YouTube.

Originally set to run across November on the Olivier stage, the show had plans interrupted by the new lockdown restrictions.

The piece, a follow-on from Death of England (seen at the National earlier this year) follows Delroy, a man arrested en route to the birth of his child. The show explores what it is like to be a Black working-class man in Britain, and was described as "a blistering piece of stagecraft" by WhatsOnStage critic Sarah Crompton.

Writers Clint Dyer and Roy Williams said: "We were hugely disappointed that Death of England: Delroy was unable to complete its full run in the Olivier theatre. The production team worked tirelessly, alongside the staff at the NT, throughout the rehearsal period and for the two weeks we were able to perform to the public and we want to thank them for their efforts.

"We are thrilled that Michael Balogun's remarkable performance will be streamed to audiences for a limited time period of the 27 November and that we will be able to perform to live audiences once again in the Spring."

The show will be available for 24 hours from 7pm GMT on 27 November. The venue has also stressed that it has made up-front payment to the artists to enable the limited-window stream during lockdown.

Set and costume designers are Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey and ULTZ, with lighting design by Jackie Shemesh, sound design by Pete Malkin and Benjamin Grant.

The production will also be re-staged later in 2021, with dates and times to be revealed.

Sign up for our daily newsletter for theatre updates