West End cast set for For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy

Exclusive: Meet the new cast of For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy, ahead of the show’s West End return.

Ryan Calais Cameron’s Olivier Award-nominated piece originally debuted at the New Diorama Theatre in 2021, directed by Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu, before transferring to the Royal Court Theatre in 2022 with Cameron taking over directorial duties. It then moved to the West End’s Apollo Theatre in 2023, where it was described by WhatsOnStage’s Sarah Crompton as an “astonishing evening of theatre“.

Originally conceived by Cameron in the wake of the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin and inspired by Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, the play mixes fantasy and reality through the lens of six young Black men who meet for group therapy and “let their hearts – and imaginations – run wild”.

Set to star in the new run will be Tobi King Bakare (I May Destroy You) as Onyx, Shakeel Haakim (making his professional debut) as Pitch, Fela Lufadeju (Standing at the Sky’s Edge) as Jet, Albert Magashi (Dear England) as Sable, Mohammed Mansaray (Much Ado About Nothing) as Obsidian and Posi Morakinyo (Ain’t Too Proud) as Midnight.

The creative team for the production includes Cameron, original director Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu, designer Anna Reid, lighting designer Rory Beaton, sound designer and composer Nicola T Chang, movement director and choreographer Theophilus O Bailey, musical director and vocal arrangement John Pfumojena, associate director Tatenda Shamiso, associate designer Noemi Daboczi, associate lighting designer Jack Ryan, vocal coach Salvatore Sorce, assistant choreographer Jade Hackett, company stage managers Constance Oak and Mica Taylor, deputy stage manager Jade Hunter, assistant stage manager Emily Obasohan, wellbeing practitioner Rukiya Jemmott, outreach manager Jade Franks and outreach coordinator Selorm Adonu.

Presented by the Royal Court Theatre, Nimax Theatres, Nouveau Riche and the New Diorama Theatre, For Black Boys…will run for a strictly limited season at the Garrick Theatre from 29 February until 4 May 2024, with a press night set for 7 March. Tickets are on sale now.