'Slave Play' Star Olivia Washington's Backstage Photo Diary
What is it about Slave Play, playwright Jeremy O. Harris’s award-winning theatrical lightning rod, that inspired Olivia Washington to move halfway around the world to star in its current London run? “Moving halfway around the world to be able to perform this work on the West End was the draw,” she says. “This play presents so many challenges that I love. It was a no-brainer.”
Washington, who recently starred in the series I’m A Virgo, joins a mix of Slave Play veterans and newcomers—a cast including Kit Harrington, Fisayo Akinade, James Cusati-Moyer, Aaron Heffernan, Chalia La Tour, Irene Sofia Lucio, and Annie McNamara—for the play’s West End run. “I saw an early preview of Slave Play at New York Theatre Workshop, and I know I came away from it wanting to read the play because it was so smart and I was sure there was so much I had missed,” Washington says. “To come back to it with some of those original cast members has been so special.”
It isn’t just the people on stage at the No?l Coward Theatre who Washington finds exciting, however. “It’s been amazing meeting people at the stage door who’ve been at the show and just feel seen,” she says. “I’ve felt that at the theater, being touched by a project that just stays with you. If I can be involved in something that does that, what more could I want?”
"This is a recreation. Jeremy came in one day and was like, 'we need to recreate this photo of Noel Coward with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne from 1939.' Which, like, of course. He told us the idea, and I said, 'Great, let’s do it.'
"This is our theater! The play that was here before was Player Kings, and one day Chalia and I walked over to see where we’d be for the next 12 weeks. That was incredible, and now to see it all lit up for our show is amazing. I love the daily reminder that this is what we get to do."
"We do an on-stage warm up every day. Not collectively, but we’re all on the stage at the same time. I don’t remember who initiated this dogpile, but that’s what we did. We all love one another, and we’re all goofy. Balance is important in every arena. We all bring our own days with us to the show, so what I love about the cast is how open, gentle, and kind everybody is. It wasn’t a challenge to trust each other. Because of the foundation we’ve created, we have this unspoken language that lets us focus on getting the story across but also allows us to laugh and be with each other, going through this experience day by day. Sometimes cuddle puddles are necessary."
"My mom took this photo of me. She thought it was the coolest situation and the best dressing room. I’ve never had one that’s so historical and meaningful, so mom was proud. The green room is right next door to me, so sometimes people come in here. I have music playing a lot and I have snacks—Extreme Goldfish, not the regular ones, you can’t get them here so I’ve been importing them."
"We had just moved into the theater this day, so Chalia and I were in the audience looking at the stage and feeling really happy to be here."
"I’ve got a lot of aunties and uncles in my life. I was so grateful for the flowers people sent me for opening night, and I love that tradition of people showing you that kind of love and support. The rest of the cast says my room smells like a garden."
"Here, I was warming up and just had this moment of whoa!
Sometimes you remember you’re in London, in a theater, doing a play that people are going to come and watch. This was just a quiet moment before the performance, when I once again had that realization."
"This is how I like to organize my table: I have all my lotions, hair stuff, towels, bowls, my speaker. This is the prep area. I’m in my act one costume, and this photo is from the first time I’d worn it with full makeup, so I was like whoa, cool—until I sweated it all off."
"Fisayo took this photo of me. It’s either vocal warmup or a yawn. Maybe both?"
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