Land of the Free
Closing: November 09, 2024Land of the Free - West End History , Info & More
Southwark Playhouse Borough
77-85 Newington Causeway London
“The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one” Abraham Lincoln
1865. The United States are disunited by politics, power and race. To celebrate the end of Civil War, a victorious Abraham Lincoln goes to the theatre. Not long into the show a man walks in and shoots him. Who was he? Why did he do it? And why does it matter now?
In the lead up to a tumultuous American election this November, the award winning Simple8 examine the present by visiting the past, with a searing new play about John Wilkes Booth, the actor who assassinated a President.
Land of the Free - - West End Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Land of the Free
Land of the Free review
5 / 10
John Wilkes Booth, the roguish actor who shot dead US President Abraham Lincoln at a theatre in 1865, is the subject of Simple8’s latest play. Thorough research from writers Sebastian Armesto and Dudley Hinton colours in the life of the Confederate sympathiser, whose persona is often reduced to the firing of his gun. But this two-hour production, directed by Armesto, is sometimes guilty of oversaturating the story, embellishing Booth’s life with more details than are necessary. And though there is a playfulness and resourcefulness to the company’s storytelling, its chronology makes it hard to follow.
Land of the Free review – deft investigation of a presidential assassin
7 / 10
The seven-strong company share multiple roles except for the magnetic Brandon Bassir, who devotes his energies fittingly to the bloody-minded Booth, a man who views the fatal bullet as “a strike against the elite”. Bassir introduces another layer of meta-textual commentary channelling Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle (who influenced Reagan’s would-be killer) whenever Booth slips into smarmy wooing mode. Meanwhile, Clara Onyemere would make a riveting Lincoln even without the irony of a Black female actor playing the role in a year which could give the US its first Black female president.
Category
by Chloe Rabinowitz - October 16, 2024
See what the critics are saying about Land of the Free at Southwark Playhouse. Playing in the lead up to the most contentious American presidential election since the time of the Civil War, Land of The Free, tells the full story for the first time in British theatre of the life of the actor John Wilkes Booth. Read all of the reviews.
by Josh Maughan - October 16, 2024
Land of the Free might be considered a success. Yes, its structure stumbles and feels a bit misguided at times, but it got a room full of people discussing some truly important issues. In a world facing such uncertainty, that’s exactly the kind of conversation theatre should be encouraging!
by Stephi Wild - September 9, 2024
A new play exploring the assassination of Abraham Lincoln announced its cast ahead of its opening next month. The production promises a deep dive into the historical event with a fresh perspective.
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