Oscar-nominated actress Ruth Negga says she is “thrilled” to be returning to the London stage in a part she last played almost two decades ago in drama school.
The star, whose CV includes TV shows Agents Of Shield and Preacher, plays the title character, right, in Portia Coughlan — a 1996 play set in Ireland about a 30-year-old woman still struggling to come to terms with the death of her twin brother 15 years before.
Negga, who was born in Ethiopia but grew up in Ireland, said she first read the work of playwright Marina Carr when she was a teenager and was “blown away” by the “brilliant, biting beauty and humour of the language”.
The actress was nominated for the best actress Oscar in 2016 for the civil rights drama Loving.
She is making her debut at the Young Vic for the show directed by Caroline Byrne next year and said: “I got to play Portia for my Trinity College graduate showcase. It was just a couple of scenes, a taste.
“Eighteen years after I went down to the river with Portia, I am to go again in the great company of Caroline and the team at the Young Vic and I am thrilled.”
Portia Coughlan runs from September 16 to October 31, 2020, youngvic.org
