Statement of Regret

Genre: Drama
Opened 14 Nov 2007
Written: Kwame Kwei-Armah
Directed: Jeremy Herrin
Produced: National Theatre
Cast: Don Warrington (Kwaku Mackenzie), Angel Coulby, Oscar James, Trevor Laird, Colin McFarlane, Chu Omambala, Javone Prince, Clifford Samuel, Ellen Thomas
Synopsis: Kwaku Mackenzie, founder of a Black policy think tank, hits the bottle after his father's death. As media interest in the once dynamic Institute fades, his team grows fractious and then, disastrously, he favours a young Oxford scholar over his own devastated son. When, in a vain attempt to regain influence, he publicly champions divisions within the Black community, the consequences are shattering.

What the popular press had to say.....
NICHOLAS DE JONGH for THE EVENING STANDARD says, "Windily aimless, tear-jerking plots and sub-plots that are left hanging." PAUL TAYLOR for THE INDEPENDENT says, "There's a leaden, creaky explicitness to the writing and the production. Nothing is oblique, or free enough to take itself by surprise." MICHAEL BILLINGTON for THE GUARDIAN says, "There is no denying that the play is full of dramatic power. But the big question is how one reconciles the need to understand the past without being submerged by it. Kwei-Armah seems to have no very clear answer." CHARLES SPENCER for THE DAILY TELEGRAPH says, "Provocative, touching and often wildly entertaining, Statement of Regret proves a play of real panache." BENEDICT NIGHTINGALE for THE TIMES says, "An incisive, provocative play."

External links to full reviews from popular press
The Independent
The Guardian
Daily Telegragh
The Times

Production photo by Keith Pattison