The producers of a forthcoming West End production of Romeo and Juliet, starring Tom Holland, have condemned “deplorable racial abuse” aimed at his co-star.
The Spider-Man actor will play Romeo in the new production in London, and its full cast was announced last week, including Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet.
Now, the BBC reports that Jamie Lloyd Company said there had been a “barrage of deplorable racial abuse directed towards a member of company.”
Their statement said:
“This must stop. We are working with a remarkable group of artists. We insist that they are free to create work without facing online harassment. We will continue to support and protect everyone in our company at all costs. Any abuse will not be tolerated and will be reported. Bullying and harassment have no place online, in our industry or in our wider communities.”
Amewudah-Rivers is making her West End debut in the play, with Holland returning to the stage where he previously starred in Billy Elliot The Musical as a child. Jamie Lloyd will direct.
Amewudah-Rivers previously appeared in two seasons of BBC series Bad Education and three short films. She has stage experience in productions at the Globe and Lyric Hammersmith among other venues.
The show will debut on May 11 and is booked to run until August 3.
Also starring in the anticipated show will be Freema Agyeman (Nurse), Michael Balogun (Friar), Tomiwa Edun (Capulet), Mia Jerome (Montague), Daniel Quinn-Toye (Paris), Ray Sesay (Tybalt), Nima Taleghani (Benvolio), Joshua-Alexander Williams (Mercutio) and Callum Heinrich and Kody Mortimer (Camera Operators).