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Black Actors Sign Letter Decrying “Twisted Ugly Abuse” Of Francesca Amewudah-Rivers After She Was Cast In ‘Romeo & Juliet’ With Tom Holland

Francesca Amewudah-Rivers will star alongside Tom Holland in a theatre adaptation of 'Romeo & Juliet,' but the casting sparked online abuse.

Prominent Black actors including No Time to Die star Lashana Lynch and Enola Holmes’ Susan Wokoma have signed an open letter decrying the abuse faced by Francesca Amewudah-Rivers after she was cast in a West End theatre production of Romeo & Juliet. The Jamie Lloyd Companyannounced last month that Amewudah-Rivers will play Juliet alongside Tom Holland ‘s Romeo in the staging of William Shakespeare’s tragedy, which opens at the Duke of York’s Theatre on May 23. Signatories include Sheila Atim ( The Woman King), Marianne Jean-Baptiste ( Secrets & Lies), Lolly Adefope ( Ghosts), Freema Agyeman ( Doctor Who), Wunmi Mosaku ( Damilola, Our Loved Boy), and Tamara Lawrance ( Time).

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