Pulse, poetry and protest: Deep Azure ignites the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Published on 18 February 2026
Written by Oscar nominee and Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, and inspired by the real-life shooting of his friend and Howard University classmate Prince Jones, Deep Azure is an urgent, energetic and powerful exploration of police brutality and so-called “black on black violence.” Funny and furiously devastating, Deep Azure is a compelling play that tackles the important issues head on. With the rise of racial profiling and violence against minorities under ICE, more than twenty years after it was first penned, it is, heartbreakingly, even more timely and necessary than it was in 2005.
Set in a near-future America, Deep Azure follows the fallout after the police killing of Deep, a young Black man. As his girlfriend Azure and their community search for truth and justice, the play fractures into poetry, memory and protest - interrogating love, rage, loyalty and the systemic forces that shape Black lives.
The cast are as urgent, energetic and powerful as the play itself. It’s exhilarating to watch as they bound through the audience, leaping over the Upper Gallery bannisters and vaulting onto the stage. The iconic candlelights flicker as wooden beams tremble under the force of pounding platform boots. At times the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse feels less like a theatre and more like a rally, the audience caught inside the pulse of Hip-Hop theatre, swept up in movement, rhythm and righteous anger. At others it’s pindrop silence, this isn’t a lecture, this is a (tragic) love story, and it is theatre that refuses to sit still.
Beatboxing, gospel and haunting a cappella create a soundscape with sharp, jagged edges. Though the characters often speak in rhyme, this is far from the sweet iambic pentameter usually associated with this space. Boseman’s language riles; it is a blood-curdling call to action, wielded to wound, provoke and tear one another down. Violent and visceral, the text draws deeply on Boseman’s South Carolina roots - echoing the musicality of the Black Southern church, the cadences of spoken word and the raw traditions of protest and storytelling passed down through generations.
Selina Jones, who plays Azure, Deep’s bereaved girlfriend, is impeccable - her performance is nothing other than extraordinary. A standout scene comes towards the very end of this epic 2hr 50min production, where she is confronted by Roshad (Justice Ritchie). She seamlessly shifts from confusion to shock, to uncontrollable laughter, to pain and desperation, and finally to the numbness of acceptance - the entire plethora of emotions is conveyed in just a few short minutes, no dialogue is uttered yet the audience knows exactly what she is saying. The entire company is outstanding. Elijah Cook’s Tone - an officer of the law and friend to both Deep and Azure - moves deftly between vulnerability and brutality. Jayden Elijah’s Deep, a lyrical poet with wandering eyes and the victim of an “unfortunate accident,” burns brightly with anger, betrayal and passion. The ensemble is formidable, conjuring this near-futuristic world while transforming effortlessly from pigeons to silver-clad marching band members.
Under the direction of Olivier-nominated Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu, best known for the award-winning phenomenon For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy, the production never softens its blows. Fynn-Aiduenu stages Boseman’s play with precision and fearlessness, balancing moments of tenderness with explosive fury. This is a production with fury, fight and fire - one that honours Boseman’s voice while speaking urgently to the present moment.
Deep Azure plays at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse until 11 April 2026
