Samira Wiley is captivating in National Theatre’s Blues for an Alabama Sky – review
Samira Wiley – best known for roles in hit shows Orange is the New Black and The Handmaid’s Tale – has made her London debut in Lynette Linton’s revival of Pearl Cleage’s 1955 play Blues for an Alabama Sky at the National Theatre.
Set in New York during 1930, it focuses on the Harlem Renaissance at the moment the Great Depression is just starting to bite.
Wiley plays the role of Angel, a cabaret singer, who shares a flat with her gay best friend Guy (the excellent Giles Terera), a fashion designer.
This pair have a really wonderful on-stage chemistry – we immediately bought into them being best friends. Early on in the play we’re introduced to Leland (Osy Ikhile) who’s new in town from Alabama; he’s a gentleman who helps Angel home from a night out after she’s a little worse for wear.
