Romeo & Juliet theatre star suffers ‘barrage’ of on the internet racial abuse | On-line abuse

A theatre corporation has condemned the “barrage of deplorable racial abuse” that has been directed at a solid member of a new manufacturing of Romeo & Juliet.

In a assertion on Friday, the Jamie Lloyd Company stated the on the net abuse “must stop” and that even more harassment would be claimed. It arrived just after the announcement of the entire cast of the present, including Tom Holland and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Romeo and Juliet, together with Freema Agyeman, Michael Balogun, Tomiwa Edun, Mia Jerome, Daniel Quinn-Toye and Ray Sesay.

“Following the announcement of our Romeo & Juliet solid, there has been a barrage of deplorable racial abuse on the net directed in direction of a member of our enterprise,” the assertion said. “This should stop. We are performing with a extraordinary team of artists. We insist that they are totally free to make perform without going through on the net harassment.”

The firm, run by the director Jamie Lloyd, claimed it would “continue to aid and defend all people in our company at all fees. Any abuse will not be tolerated and will be described. Bullying and harassment have no location online, in our market or in our broader communities.”

Its rehearsal space for the demonstrate was “full of pleasure, compassion and kindness,” the corporation explained.

It extra: “We rejoice the extraordinary talent of our outstanding collaborators. The Romeo & Juliet neighborhood will go on to rehearse with generosity and enjoy, and concentration on the generation of our generation.”

The engage in runs at the Duke of York’s Theatre from 11 May possibly – 3 August. It will be the Spider-Male star Holland’s very first significant theatre role due to the fact his debut in Billy Elliot: The Musical.

Last summer season, he reported he was having a break from acting soon after starring in the Apple Television+ series The Crowded Space, a psychological thriller that he also generated. The star has develop into a person of Britain’s ideal-identified youthful display actors but owes his job to the stage.

Lloyd is recognized for mounting daring, megastar-led variations of traditional performs these kinds of as Medical doctor Faustus with Kit Harington, Betrayal with Tom Hiddleston and The Seagull with Emilia Clarke. His new creation of the musical Sunset Boulevard, with Nicole Scherzinger, not long ago ended a marketed-out operate at London’s Savoy theatre and is transferring to Broadway in September.

Previous year Lloyd directed Taylor Russell and Paapa Essiedu in a revival of Lucy Prebble’s engage in The Result at the National Theatre, before opening at the Shed in New York very last month.

Romeo & Juliet is billed as “a pulsating new vision of Shakespeare’s immortal tale of wordsmiths, rhymers, enthusiasts and fighters”. It is Lloyd’s to start with Shakespeare creation due to the fact he staged Richard III at Trafalgar Studios in 2014, with Martin Freeman in the guide purpose.