NICA BURNS ANNOUNCES
THE WEST END TRANSFER OF
RYAN CALAIS CAMERON’S
RETROGRADE
OPENING AT THE APOLLO THEATRE
FROM MARCH 2025
Nica Burns today announces the West End transfer of the Kiln Theatre’s acclaimed production of Retrograde by Ryan Calais Cameron (For Black Boys…) starring Ivanno Jeremiah (Constellations, Donmar West End; Humans, Channel 4) who reprises the role of Hollywood icon Sidney Poitier. Joining him as his protagonist Mr Parks is Stanley Townsend (Kaos, Netflix; The Normal Heart, National Theatre) and Oliver Johnstone (Antigone, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; All My Sons, The Old Vic) as writer Bobby. The production, directed by the Kiln Theatre’s Artistic Director Amit Sharma, begins performances at the Apollo Theatre for a strictly limited run playing from 8 March until 14 June 2025.
Tickets go on sale at 1pm today, Thursday 5 December and can be booked via www.nimaxtheatres.com.
Sidney Poitier: outstanding actor, trail blazer, activist, icon. The first black artist to win an Oscar for Best Actor.
Ryan Calais Cameron’s gripping thriller captures the moment when a young Sidney Poitier is about to sign a career-defining Hollywood contract that could make him a star. But there’s a catch. Will he put his career before his principles? In a time of betrayals, will he name names? Will he sign his life away?
Retrograde follows Ryan’s smash West End hit For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy – so good it sold out twice – first at the Apollo in 2023, returning swiftly by public demand to the Garrick in 2024.
Ryan Calais Cameron said today, “I’m absolutely thrilled to see Retrograde take its next step onto the West End stage. This play holds a deeply personal resonance for me as a writer. Sidney Poitier’s journey — his courage, conviction, and the weight of the choices he faced — is not just his story; it’s a reflection of the challenges and dilemmas many of us still navigate today. I can’t wait for audiences at the Apollo Theatre to join us in this moment of reflection, urgency, and ultimately, celebration.”
Ivanno Jeremiah said, “It’s an honour to share this work in the West End at the Apollo Theatre, paying tribute to the Titans of Hollywood’s Golden Era. Ryan Calais Cameron’s imaginative portrayal of the 1950s, based on real events, ignites intelligent debate, questioning morality, ambition, and integrity amidst wealth—from a 1955 NBC corner office to today’s world. It challenges us to consider the limits we may not cross.”
Stanley Townsend said, “With morals and ethics on the ropes, and a man’s life in the balance: Retrograde is a Runyonesque rollercoaster with a ticking time bomb on board.”
Oliver Johnstone said, “Retrograde is one of the best new plays I’ve read in a long time. Ryan’s writing is electric. So I’m excited to be working on it alongside two actors whom I greatly admire and an incredibly talented creative team.”
Amit Sharma said, “I’m incredibly proud that Retrograde transfers from a sold out run at Kiln Theatre to the West End’s Apollo Theatre. When I first read Ryan Calais Cameron’s vital new play, I knew its themes were as relevant today as the era in which the play is set; centring around the iconic Sidney Poitier and the Golden Age of Hollywood, it’s a tale full of twists and turns. A magnificent and essential story that audiences will now have another opportunity to experience.”
Nica Burns said, “When I saw Retrograde at Kiln Theatre I was gripped for 90 thrilling minutes. Full of twists and turns, the whole audience sat on the edge of their seats until the very last moment. This is a wonderfully exciting evening inspired by true events. In only three years and with two plays, Ryan Calais Cameron has swiftly become a significant West End playwright who has also introduced new audiences to the theatre. An extraordinary achievement.”
Joining director Amit Sharma are Frankie Bradshaw (Set and Costume Designer), Amy Mae (Lighting Designer), Beth Duke (Sound Designer) and Juliet Horsley CDG (Casting Director).
Ivanno Jeremiah plays Sidney
Ivanno Jeremiah is an Ugandan, Rwandese & proud South London TV, Film, Voice and Theatre actor. He studied at the BRIT School of Performing Arts before winning a scholarship to RADA.
Theatre credits include: The Suit (Peter Brook International Tour); The Convert & Measure for Measure (Young Vic); A Soldier’s Tale (City of London Sinfonia); The Nether (Headlong/Royal Court); Truth and Reconciliation (Royal Court); Julius Caesar (RSC); Constellations (Donmar West End); Retrograde (Kiln).
Film credits include: Woken, The Flood, Bees Make Honey, Julius Caesar, The Veteran, A Few Miles South, No More Wings (TriBeCa winner), Last Words, Limbo, The Agreement (Producer), Ozi: Voice of The Forest.
Television credits include: Halo 2, Humans, Unaired Game of Thrones Prequel, Lockwood & Co, A Discovery of Witches, Cold Feet, Counterpart, Black Mirror, Injustice, The Jury, Julius Caesar, The Hollow Crown, The Jury.
Upcoming Work: We Go Again (BBC)
Stanley Townsend plays Mr Parks
Stanley Townsend was born in Dublin, Ireland. He is co-founder of Rough Magic Theatre Company.
Theatre credits include: Solar Bones (Abbey Theatre Dublin), All About Eve (Noel Coward Theatre), Incantata (Galway International Arts Festival), Glengarry Glen Ross (The Playhouse, London), Girl From the North Country (Old Vic), King Lear, Phedre, Gethsemane, Happy Now, Remember This, Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre, London; The Alice Trilogy, Shining City (for which he won the Irish Times Best Actor Award), The Nether, Under the Blue Sky, The Weir and Tribes at the Royal Court, London; The Dead, The Wake, Trinity for Two and Sacred Mysteries at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin; The Gingerbread Mix-up at St Andrews Lane, Dublin; A View from the Bridge (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh), Prayers of Sherkin at the Old Vic, London; Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds; The Plough and the Stars at the Young Vic, London; Democracy at the Bush Theatre, London; Speed-the-Plow for Project Arts Centre, Dublin; Saint Oscar for Field Day Theatre Company, Derry; Who Shall Be Happy…? for Mad Cow Productions, Belfast, London and tour; and Art in the West End at the Wyndham Theatre.
Television credits include: The Regime, Black Shore, Kaos, Zen, Whistleblower, He Kills Coppers, Prosperity, Saddam’s Tribe, Rough Diamond, Waking The Dead, Spooks, The Virgin Queen, Hustle, Omagh (film), The Brief, Murder Squad, Fallen, Wire in the Blood, The Commander, Menace, Seventh Stream, Heartbeat, Station Jim, Table 12, Casualty, Best of Both Worlds, Active Defence, DDU (Making the Cut), Ballykissangel, Peak Practice, Jonathan Creek, A Touch of Frost, The Governor, The Bill, Parnell, Nighthawks, Fortycoats & Co., Lost Belongings, Lapsed Catholic, Glenroe, Ashes to Ashes, Mad Dogs, Sherlock, Call the Midwife, Quirke, Ripper Street, 24: Live Another Day, Galavant, The Collection, Redwater, Informer, The Spy and Dangerous Liaisons.
Film credits include: Jay Kelly, The Teacher, Song of Names, The Girl from Mogadishu, The Current War, Florence Foster Jenkins, The Voices, One Chance, Standby, The Physician, Lovely Louise, Killing Bono, Happy Go Lucky, Nativity, Flawless, The Tiger’s Tale, Isolation, The Libertine, Inside I’m Dancing, Tulse Luper II, Suzie Gold, Wondrous Oblivion, American Girl, Monsieur N, Mystics, The Van, My Friend Joe, Moll Flanders, Jake’s Progress, Beyond Reason, Good Girls, In the Name of the Father, Blue Ice, The Miracle and Taffin.
Oliver Johnstone plays Bobby
Theatre credits include: The Real Thing, All My Sons (The Old Vic); Imperium, Oppenheimer (RSC/West End); Duchess of Malfi, Henry V (Headlong/Shakespeare’s Globe); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (ETT/UK tour); The Haystack (Hampstead); Tribes (Sheffield Crucible); Cymbeline (RSC/Barbican); King Lear (RSC/Barbican/BAM); Teddy Ferrara (Donmar); Spring Awakening (Headlong/UK tour); Another
Country (Chichester).
Television credits include: Endeavour, Loaded, The Syndicate, Inspector George Gently, Whitechapel, Lewis.
Film credits include: The Courier, Open, On Chesil Beach, The Inbetweeners Movie 2, Skyfall.
Ryan Calais Cameron
Theatre Credits include: For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy was originally produced by Ryan’s theatre company, Nouveau Riche and New Diorama Theatre, directed by Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu. Following a sold out run at New Diorama, a revised version of the production directed by Ryan, transferred to the Royal Court in March 2022 (produced by Nouveau Riche, New Diorama) and then to the Apollo Theatre, West End in March 2023. For Black Boys… was winner of Black British Theatre Awards 2022, Best Production Play Award and Ryan was the winner of Best Director Award alongside Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu; the ensemble was joint-winner of ‘Best Performer in a Play’ at 2022 Stage Debut Awards. The play was also nominated for ‘Best New Play’ and ‘Best Actor in a Supporting Role’ at the 2023 Olivier Awards. A revival of the production opened at the Garrick Theatre on 29th February 2024; the run sold out and was extended.
Retrograde (Kiln Theatre, April/May 2023), nominated for Evening Standard Award, ‘Best Play’ 2023.
Human Nurture (Theatre Centre/Sheffield Theatres and national tour 2022); Typical (Nouveau Riche), which starred Richard Blackwood (Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Soho Theatre Upstairs 2020); Queens of Sheba, (Nouveau Riche), co-written with Jessica Hagan, winner of the 2018 Edinburgh Untapped Award, (Edinburgh Fringe, New Diorama Theatre, London and national tour 2019). Ryan was the winner of the 2018 Off West End ‘Adopt A Playwright Award’ for his play Rhapsody, which was produced at the Arcola in March of that year.
Ryan is an Associate Artist at the Royal Court.
TV & Film: Guest writer on The Flatshare S1 (42/Paramount+), Boarders (Studio Lambert/BBC3), Queenie (C4); Original projects in development include: My Brothers’ Keeper (Warp Films/C4), Blerd (Wychwood/Sister Pics), an adaptation of the novel Blood Rights by Mike Phillips (Red Planet), Angell Town (5Acts/Netflix). Ryan has recently completed short film Dark Side of the Moon which he wrote and directed for Film4.
Amit Sharma
Amit Sharma is Artistic Director and CEO of Kiln Theatre, opening his inaugural season with Pins and Needles and The Purists. He is an international award-winning director of theatre and television. Before becoming Artistic Director, he was Associate Director of Kiln Theatre, as well as Deputy Artistic Director of Birmingham Rep, Associate Artistic Director at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, and Associate Director at Graeae Theatre Company where his journey into theatre began. Sharma directed the critically acclaimed and sell-out run of Retrograde at the Kiln. He has also directed two productions at the National Theatre – The Solid Life of Sugar Water (Graeae Theatre Company/Theatre Royal Plymouth co-production) and The Boy With Two Hearts (also Wales Millennium Centre). He also co-directed Prometheus Awakes, one of the largest outdoor productions featuring Deaf and disabled artists as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad (Graeae Theatre Company/ Greenwich+Docklands International Festival/ Stockton International Riverside Festival/La Fura Dels Baus); and Aruna and The Raging Sun in Chennai, India as part of UK/INDIA Year of Culture 2017. Amit is a BAFTA nominated directed for his two films which were part of the Criptales season on BBC and BBC AMERICA. He also co-directed the award-winning BBC and NETFLIX television drama Then Barbara Met Alan (Best Single Drama, 2023 Broadcast Awards). He began his training at Graeae Theatre Company with Missing Piece 1. His other theatre credits include One Under (Graeae Theatre Company/Theatre Royal Plymouth), Cosmic Scallies (Graeae Theatre Company/Royal Exchange Theatre), and Iron Man (Graeae Theatre Company/international tour). His other television work includes Hamish, and Thunderbox.
LISTINGS
Apollo Theatre
Saturday 8 March – Saturday 14 June 2025
Box Office: www.nimaxtheatres.com / 0330 333 4809
Access Performances:
BSL: Friday 18 April, 7.30pm
Captioned: Saturday 26 April, 2.30pm
Audio Described: Saturday 3 May, 7.30pm