Bridgerton’s Adjoa Andoh: ‘Church is the place where you can be a hot mess; you don’t have to be fine’

The actor and activist on growing up in the Cotswolds, coming home to the Church and what it means to take every opportunity God gives you

As she strides onto  stage to deliver the opening monologue, it is easy to see why Adjoa Andoh was drawn to the character of Richard III. Choosing to surround herself with an all-white cast, Andoh is making a statement: like Richard, she knows what it is to be ‘othered’; stereotyped for bodily characteristics over which you have no control. 

Shakespeare may have written his tragedy more than 400 years ago, but it has a striking relevance for our modern day. Many historians now dispute the physical deformities ascribed to Richard in the play, or that he was a murderous villain who ruthlessly dispatched anyone who stood in the way of his ambition to be king. Nonetheless, Shakespeare’s typecast has stuck for centuries.