Sheila Atim

Sheila Atim (born January 1991 in Uganda) is an actress, singer, composer, and playwright. She made her professional acting debut in 2013 at Shakespeare's Globe in The Lightning Child, a musical that she co-wrote along with her acting teacher Ché Walker. Following critically acclaimed stage roles in the Donmar Warehouse's all-female Shakespeare trilogy in 2016 among others, Atim won the 2018 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role as Marianne Laine in an original production of Girl from the North Country. She has composed songs for some productions and premiered her play Anguis at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Atim has also been cast in several television series, including the cancelled Game of Thrones successor series Bloodmoon and the BBC's The Pale Horse.

Sheila Atim MBE
Atim, with Damson Idris, in Ghost Town (2014)
Born	January 1991 (age 29) Uganda
Education	King's College London (Biomedical Science)
Occupation	Actress, singer, playwright, composer
Years active	2013–present

Early life

Sheila Atim was born in January 1991 in Uganda and moved to the UK with her mother at the age of five months. She grew up in Rainham, London, and attended the Coopers' Company and Coborn School sixth form. Atim did some occasional modelling as a teenager after having been recruited when she shaved the side of her head for a school prom.[1][2][3][4][5] Atim appeared in a 2009 London Fashion Week event called All Walks beyond the Catwalk, organised by the British Fashion Council to showcase clothes that were for "real women".[6] She later said that "modelling was never a big earner for me. I was unusual looking, so I couldn't go for commercial castings."[2]

Early stage career

Atim graduated with a degree in biomedical science from King's College London and trained as an actor at the Weekend Arts Centre in Belsize Park, London. She became involved in a workshop for a new play, The Lightning Child, which led to her being cast by her acting teacher Ché Walker for her professional acting debut at Shakespeare's Globe in 2013.[4][7][8][9]

The Lightning Child, written by Walker and Arthur Darvill, ran for several weeks from mid-September 2013[10] and was the first musical staged at the Shakespeare's Globe.[11] It received mixed reviews, with the Financial Times describing it as "a bold experiment, but sadly not a successful one" and The Guardian review calling it "oddly conventional and pointlessly excessive".[12] The Independent said that despite the production being overlong and having problems with the structure, it was "hard not to like" the show.[11]

Atim in Ghost Town, 2014

Atim played Keira, the physical embodiment of obsessive–compulsive disorder, in Ghost Town at the York Theatre Royal in early 2014.[13] What's On Stage praised her "mesmeric physical presence"[14] and The Yorkshire Times review said that Atim "dominated the stage".[15] Following this, Atim appeared with Ako Mitchell in Walker's two-hander Klook's Last Stand, being praised by The Guardian for an energetic performance[16] and "tremendous stage presence" by The Daily Telegraph.[17] In the autumn of 2014 she appeared in Rachel at the Finborough Theatre[18] and followed this by joining the touring production of Kate Tempest's Hopelessly Devoted.[9] In addition to this, Atim played three roles in Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) productions: the Attendant in The Jew of Malta,[19] Julia in Love's Sacrifice,[20] and Assistant to Lady Politic Would-Be in Volpone.[21] Walker's The Etienne Sisters, including songs by Atim, opened two days before the end of her run in Volpone.[21][22]

Leading roles

Her first major stage role[23] was the non-speaking part of The Woman in Les Blancs at the National Theatre in 2016. The Stage said of her performance that "at the centre of the narrative is its most potent character: a gaunt, stooped and silent woman."[24] The New York Times described a "spine-tingling production" and suggested that Atim's character may be an emblem of Africa.[25] The Times later referred to her performance as "mesmerising".[4]

Atim received acclaim for her 2016 performances in the Donmar Warehouse's all-female Shakespeare trilogy set in a women's prison, when she played Ferdinand in The Tempest, Gadshill and Lady Percy in Henry IV, and Lucius in Julius Caesar.[4][23][26] The Guardian said Atim was "a glorious, giddy Ferdinand and a moving Lady Percy – [and] frequently seems to be physically stabbing the text as much as speaking it"[27] and The Independent wrote "Sheila Atim (Ferdinand) and Leah Harvey (Miranda) are adorably funny and charming as they capture the giddy gaucheries of first love."[28] Atim won a 2018 Clarence Derwent Award, presented to best supporting actors in London productions, for her roles The Tempest and Les Blancs.[29]

Her leading role in Babette received a more mixed assessment, with The Times saying she was "the best thing about [the] production"[4] while The Daily Telegraph review said "It's a pity ... that Babette, whose story this is, should remain, in Atim's somewhat remote performance, so distant a figure."[30]

She played Marianne Laine in the original run of the musical Girl from the North Country at The Old Vic in London from 26 July to 7 October 2017. Following the success of The Old Vic production, it transferred into London's West End at the Noël Coward Theatre from 29 December for a limited 12-week run until 24 March 2018.[31] The play is set during the Great Depression and Atim's character Marianne Laine is a black woman, who was adopted by a white couple that run a struggling guesthouse. The character is pregnant and appears to have been forsaken by the father of her unborn child. The music for the show consists of songs by Bob Dylan and amongst the numbers that Atim performs are his "Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)" and "Idiot Wind". The Guardian described Atim as "outstanding" in the role, with delivery of "Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)" being "direct, unaffected and perfectly poised" and her performance of "Idiot Wind" a "beautiful reading".[32] The Times stated that "Atim, in a strong cast, is standout."[4] For her Girl from the North Country role, she received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Play at the 18th WhatsOnStage awards[33] and won the Olivier award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.[34][35]

In 2018, she played Emilia opposite Mark Rylance's Iago in Othello at Shakespeares's Globe, where according to The Independent, "she unleashed a fury that blew the greatest actor of his generation off the stage."[36]

Atim presented her first play as an author, Anguis, at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[23] It features Cleopatra being interviewed by a scientist and singing, Atim also having composed the songs.[37] The Times considered it to be an "intriguing look at female power ... that marks [Atim] as a playwright to watch",[38] whereas The Scotsman, whilst praising the songs and some performances, lamented that "the stories of the hugely privileged queen and the stressed-out modern black Londoner never quite come together as strongly as the situation promises."[37]

Television, film and music

Atim played Viola and Sebastian in a film edition of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and won the Screen Nation 2019 Best Female Performance film award.[39][40] In 2018 she portrayed Limehouse Nell in ITV's Harlots.[36]

Atim plays piano, violin, bass and drums.[36] She composed the score for the play Time Is Love at London's Finborough Theatre in 2019,[41] the year that she was named one of the cast of the Game of Thrones prequel series Bloodmoon.[42] The planned series was cancelled following the pilot episode.[43][23] She appeared as an alleged witch in the 2020 BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse[44][23] and in early 2020 was working on The Underground Railroad,[23] The Irregulars[45] and Bruised.[46]

In June 2019 Atim was named a MBE for her services to drama;[47] she is also on the Board of Trustees of The Old Vic Theatre Trust.[48]

Awards

• Most Promising Newcomer Award, The Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards 2017 (shared with John McCrea) for her role in Girl from the North Country.[49]

• 2018 Clarence Derwent Award for her roles in the Donmar Warehouse's production of The Tempest and the National Theatre's production of Les Blancs. (The awards honour best supporting actors in London productions.)[29]

• 2018 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role as Marianne in Girl from the North Country.[34][35]

• Screen Nation 2019 Best Female Performance in Film for playing Viola and Sebastian in Twelfth Night.[40]

Credits

Theatre

Dates	Title	Role	Venue	Ref.
18 September – 12 October 2013[lower-alpha 1]	The Lightning Child	Maenad	Shakespeare's Globe	[10][8][50]
6 February – 4 March 2014	Ghost Town	Keira	York Theatre Royal (Pilot Theatre)	[13]
13 June – 6 July 2014	Klook's Last Stand	Vinette	Park Theatre (London)	[51]
30 September – 25 October 2014	Rachel	Mrs. Laine	Finborough Theatre	[31][18]
From 6 November 2014	Hopelessly Devoted	Chess	National tour (starting at Lincoln Performing Arts Centre)	[9]
18 March – 8 September 2015	The Jew of Malta	Attendant	Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (Royal Shakespeare Company)	[19]
11 April – 24 June 2015	Love's Sacrifice	Julia	Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (Royal Shakespeare Company)	[20]
3 July – 12 September 2015	Volpone	Assistant to Lady Politic Would-Be	Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (Royal Shakespeare Company)	[21]
10 September – 3 October 2015	The Etienne Sisters	Additional songs[lower-alpha 2]	Theatre Royal Stratford East	[22][52]
22 March – 2 June 2016	Les Blancs	The Woman	National Theatre	[31][24]
23 September – 17 December 2016	Shakespeare Trilogy: The Tempest	Ferdinand	Donmar Warehouse	[26]
23 September – 17 December 2016	Shakespeare Trilogy: Henry IV	Gadshill & Lady Percy	Donmar Warehouse	[26]
23 September – 17 December 2016	Shakespeare Trilogy: Julius Caesar	Lucius	Donmar Warehouse	[26]
23–25 March 2017	Black Lives Black Words – The Interrogation of Sandra Bland	Bland One	Bush Theatre	[31][53]
9 May – 3 June 2017	Babette's Feast	Babette	Print Room	[31][54]
26 July – 7 October 2017	Girl from the North Country	Marianne Laine	Old Vic	[31][55]
29 December 2017 – 24 March 2018	Girl from the North Country	Marianne Laine	Noël Coward Theatre	[31][55]
20 July – 13 October 2018	Othello	Emilia	Shakespeare's Globe	[8][56]
1–26 January 2019	Time is love / Tiempo Es Amor	Rosa	Finborough Theatre	[57]
1–26 August 2019	Anguis	Author[lower-alpha 2]	Gilded Balloon Teviot	[23][58]

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes	Ref.
2014	I Live With Models	Mean Girl 1	Comedy Central	[50]
2018	Harlots	Limehouse Nell	Hulu	[36]
2019	Bounty Hunters	The Investigator	Sky One	[50]
2019	The Feed	Amanda Javad	Amazon	[50]
2020	The Pale Horse	Thryza Grey	BBC	[59]
2020	The Underground Railroad	Mabel	Amazon	[23]
2020	The Irregulars		Netflix	[45]

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes	Ref.
2015	Twelfth Night	Viola/Sebastian	Interactive Shakespeare Company	[39][60]
2020	Sulphur and White	Samira	Emu Films	[50]
2020	The Show	John Conqueror	Lex Film	[50]
TBA	Bruised			[46]

Radio

Year	Film	Role	Notes	Ref.
2017	The Anansi Boys	Rosie, Sybilla	BBC Radio 4	[61]

Notes

1. professional debut
2. Non-acting

References

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2. Curtis, Nick (13 September 2018). "Stage sensation Sheila Atim is the rising star of ES Magazine's fashion edition". London Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
3. Anderson, Hayley (10 April 2018). "Former Upminster sixth form student wins Olivier Award for best supporting actress". Romford Recorder. Archived from the original on 8 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
4. Durrant, Nancy (6 January 2018). "She sings Dylan better than Bob – Sheila Atim, star of Girl from the North Country, tells Nancy Durrant about being a model, musician, actress – and scientist". The Times. London. p. 6. Retrieved 4 May 2020 – via NewsBank.
5. Allfree, Claire (22 June 2018). "'Don't condemn Shakespeare for being white' – As she stars at The Globe, multi-talented Sheila Atim tells Claire Allfree why classic literature should stay on the curriculum". Daily Telegraph, The (London, England). p. 27. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
6. Mesure, Susie (13 September 2009). "Real women can look 'spectacular' say eight designers, and here's proof – Larger models strut their stuff at mould-breaking London Fashion Week event". Independent on Sunday, The (London, England). pp. 22–23. ISSN 0958-1723. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
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59. "Interview with Rita Tushingham, Sheila Atim and Kathy Kiera Clarke". BBC. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
60. "Shanty Productions". Shanty Productions. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
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External links

• Sheila Atim performs Bob Dylan's 'Tight Connection to My Heart' (YouTube – Old Vic)
• IMDB Entry for Sheila Atim
• Sheila Atim at Sue Terry Voices
• Vogue Meets: Sheila Atim (YouTube – British Vogue)