Death of England: Closing Time review – 'bold, brash reflection on racism'
The final part of this trilogy deftly explores rising political tensions across the country

In the weeks since the opening of the first two plays in Clint Dyer and Roy Williams's reprised "Death of England" trilogy – which is being performed together for the first time – "racist riots" in England's cities have given their "interrogation of toxic whiteness a new urgency", said Suzi Feay in the FT.
First staged at the National in 2020, the first two parts are monologues, which introduce us to Michael (Thomas Coombes), a working-class white man raised by a racist father, and Delroy (Paapa Essiedu), his Black British, pro-Brexit best friend. Their friendship is "both cemented and complicated" by Delroy's love for Michael's sister Carly. In "Closing Time", a two-hander that was staged at the National three years later, Carly and Delroy's mother Denise "talk about their lives" and, by extension, "the state of the nation".
Dyer and Williams have been hailed for skilfully tapping into "contemporary political tensions", said Rachel Halliburton in The Times. In this "excoriating" third part, Carly (Erin Doherty) and Denise (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) are facing the collapse of the small business they've been running together; and in quickfire dialogue, they cover "everything from the middle-class blight of Gail's bakery to inherited racism". Duncan-Brewster superbly conveys her character's "simmering rage" about the failure of the shop for which she sacrificed so much; and though this anger seems not initially to be targeted directly at Doherty's "mouthy, amusingly defensive Carly", we get flashes of the "knots and contradictions that have trapped them both".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This is a "bold, brash reflection on racism, white culpability and working-class identity", said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian. But it's flawed. The piece's emotional power is diluted by "exaggerated" comedy and a near farcical amount of shouting and stomping, and the script's bagginess is more apparent in this reprisal. For too long, "the dialogue wanders aimlessly", and key points are lost owing to the speed of the delivery. The play is not without searing moments, but overall, it's too hectic and too loose.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What are blue slips and why does Trump want to end them?
Today's Big Question The practice lets senators block a president's judge and prosecutor nominees
-
What are 'freakosystems' and how are they affecting the planet?
The explainer Ecosystems are changing permanently
-
'The question is what it does for the ecosystem'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Ford Ranger Plug-in Hybrid: 'more than just a novelty'
The Week Recommends Europe's first plug-in hybrid pickup is 'surprisingly agile'
-
6 lush homes in the trees
Feature Featuring a glass house in Texas and a home built for a Broncos quarterback in Colorado
-
Brooklyn vs. the Beckhams: trouble in paradise
In the Spotlight Scion of the Beckham clan and billionaire heiress wife Nicola Peltz staged an elaborate vow renewal – and none of his family were on the guest list
-
Alien: Earth – a 'bold' prequel to the space horror classic
The Week Recommends Set two years before Alien, new Disney show pays 'homage' to the original
-
Music reviews: Ethel Cain, Amaarae, and The Black Keys
Feature "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You," "Black Star," and "No Rain, No Flowers"
-
Film reviews: Highest 2 Lowest and Weapons
Feature A kidnapping threatens a mogul's legacy and a town spins into madness after 17 children disappear
-
Book reviews: 'King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution' and 'Gwyneth: The Biography'
Feature How the Iranian Revolution began and Gwyneth Paltrow's life in the spotlight
-
Garrett Graff's 6 favorite books that shine new light on World War II
Feature The author recommends works by James D. Hornfischer, Craig L. Symonds, and more