Wildefire, Hampstead Theatre

In the wake of so many popular detective dramas on TV, now the Hampstead is about to stage its own law enforcement thriller. City-based policewoman, Gail Wilde (nicknamed Wildefire) has been accused of professional misconduct and her life, both at work and home, begins to spiral out of control. Roy Williams’s play turns an investigative eye over the day-to-day life of a working police officer and the toll it takes. 
Roy Williams (recently honoured with an OBE) is a hugely prolific playwright. Since starting his career in 1996, he has written more than thirty plays. Policing is not unfamiliar territory for him, as demonstrated by his excellent play Fallout at the Royal Court, which looked at the officers examining the murder of Damilola Taylor. “Despite the anger in Williams's plays,” The Guardian observed, “Humanity tends to win out – even if it's a desperate, bruised kind of humanity.”
Director Maria Aberg has only just finished working on The White Devil at the RSC. She collaborated there before with Roy Williams on his play Days of Significance. Naomi Dawson, who also designed The White Devil and the RSC’s Roaring Girl, will be lending her talent to Wildefire as well.  
Culture Whisper has heard that two young up-and-coming actors, Tara Hodge (Mogadishu, Lyric, BBC’s Silk) and Danny Dalton (Much Ado about Nothing at Manchester Royal Exchange, Pigeon at the Royal Court) have already been cast, but the full cast list is yet to be announced.
When asked to sum up Wildefire in three words, Roy Williams said: “Searching, compassionate, probing.” And added that the best advice he’s been given is to write what’s in his heart, not his head.