West End transfer announced for Ryan Calais Cameron’s RETROGRADE from March 2025
Nica Burns has announced the West End transfer of the Kiln Theatre’s acclaimed production of Retrograde by Ryan Calais Cameron, which will play at London’s Apollo Theatre from 8 March-14 June 2025.
The play will star Ivanno Jeremiah (Constellations, West End; Humans, Channel 4) who reprises the role of Hollywood icon Sidney Poitier. Joining him as his protagonist Mr Parks is Stanley Townsend (The Normal Heart, National Theatre) and Oliver Johnstone (Antigone, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) as writer Bobby.
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: “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.
The production is directed by Amit Sharma, with set and costume design by Frankie Bradshaw, lighting by Amy Mae, sound by Beth Duke, and casting by Juliet Horsley CDG.
