The writer and star of new comedy drama Black Superhero at the Royal Court has announced that he is leaving the production mid-run.
Danny Lee Wynter said in a statement on social media: “It is with great sadness I announce that due to personal reasons I have made the very difficult decision to withdraw from playing the role of David in my play, BLACK SUPERHERO. I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to all who were expecting to come and watch me perform in the part.
“I am utterly heartbroken I will not get to complete this journey with you all, but want to take the opportunity to thank the audiences who since the very first performance have been so incredibly vocal and responsive to a story which has taken my whole life to tell. Maya Angelou said ‘There is no greater agony than bearing a story untold…’ and I am proud I got to share mine. To absorb that energy and recognition as a first time playwright, while also standing on stage as an actor in a theatre I held so dear throughout my career was a privilege, one nobody will ever take away.
“It is my wish to one day return to the role in some incarnation or other, but in the meantime I give this wonderful company, along with all of the stage managers who’ve worked so tirelessly, my full blessing and support as they continue to come together to present my debut play to you all through till April 29th. I would urge you to do the same. Their work is too vivid and vital to be slept on. I will see you again one day soon.”
The Normal Heart Olivier Award nominee was starring in the show alongside Dyllón Burnside (Pose), Eloka Ivo (Avenue 5), Rochenda Sandall (Line of Duty), Ben Allen (Breeders), Dominic Holmes (Industry), and Ako Mitchell (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness).
The role of David will now be played by Lewis Brown.
Directed by Daniel Evans, Black Superhero is continuing its run at the Royal Court to 29 April 2023.
Lee Wynter’s debut play is billed as “a brutal, unflinching and funny portrait of one man’s life spiralling out of control, in an age where our idols are Kings and our superheroes Gods.” Critics largely enjoyed the production, with the Guardian calling it an “”original queer drama with plenty of kapow”.
The Royal Court issued a statement saying that: “It is with deep regret we have to announce that due to personal circumstances, Danny Lee Wynter has taken the difficult decision to withdraw from performing the role of David in BLACK SUPERHERO.”
UPDATE – 8 April 2023:
Danny Lee Wynter posted a further response on his social media, saying: “I want to thank you all for your kind messages of support in what has been the worst week or so of my professional career. Instagram is a place where people only share the shiny glossy and cute. This is not that. It has felt like I have been in a fight for my life. Your words, phone calls and texts have meant a great deal. In particular your support of my performance in my play BLACK SUPERHERO, as well as for the play itself. That I am not able to go forward performing in this most deeply personal of pieces which I specifically wrote for myself out of my trauma, my pain and my life, well … it has engendered a pain like no other I’ve ever experienced. The evenings are now about trying to surround myself with those I love in some kind of desperate bid to save myself. Having spent the last two months peeling my skin back and sharing my life and body with others to create a piece of art, the deep and sometimes excruciating vulnerability that took … I have never wanted to be anything other than an actor. Even more than being a writer. This play has been my dream. To perform for nine shows than have that stop. I do not have the words. Weren’t it for the love of my friends I mightn’t be here. My Mum, who never got to see me perform in a play which is dedicated to her, took me for dinner this evening in the best Italian restaurant in Essex where she used to take me as a little boy. The Bel-Sit … I want to tell you something. My play BLACK SUPERHERO was written by Danny Lee Wynter. Any attempt to overlook that will not end well. I ripped by heart out to write it, and the play will live on long after this production, and indeed my life. It is the only thing I am certain of in this moment. And I am not fucking about.
Book tickets to Black Superhero at the Royal Court Theatre in London
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Really sad how this played out. I feel for the Royal Court in the awkwardness of how protracted this was and how little could be said to disgruntled audiences after weeks of consecutive cancelled performances. And to see this as the end result…really sad.