"Luther" Co-Star Nikki Amuka-Bird Takes Center Stage In Simon Stephen's Play "The Trial Of Ubu"

She's a grossly underused actress (in my opinion, at least) who most of us saw last in series 2 of BBC's Luther, alongside formerly underused actor Idris Elba.

Nikki Amuka-Bird was also seen recently in Ralph Fiennes' film directorial debut Coriolanous, but I don't recall the film making it to my neck of the woods.

For those of us who will be in the UK-- London, to be specific-- between now and February 25, Amuka-Bird can be seen at the Hampstead Theatre as one of two interpreters in Simon Stephen's The Trial Of Ubu, which is being touted as a companion piece to Alfred Jarry's 1896 play Ubu Roi.

The play's synopsis is as follows:

"January 2010. The International Criminal Tribunal sitting in The Hague. Day 436. The dictator Ubu, the grotesque andamoral megalomaniac from Jarry’s 1896 play Ubu Roi, is before a UN constituted International Tribunal charged with Crimes against Humanity and other serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Is this the justice of the victors? Is this the best way to deal with the perpetrators of unspeakable crime? Wherein lies the legitimacy of an internationally convened Tribunal?

 The Trial of Ubu is a savage comedy that interrogates the assumptions of a Court as it struggles to deal with defendants who are not only opposed to the morality of law, but exist in a different moral dimension altogether."

The Trial Of Ubu employs the use of both live actors and . . . puppets?  From what I gather, most of the dialogue in the play comes from Amuka-Bird and the second translator, played by Kate Duchene, who sit in the middle of the stage . . . translating.  Paul McCleary stars as the titular Ubu.

Early reviews of The Trial Of Ubu have not been the most favorable.  However, I'd like to hear from any of our readers who have seen the play, and get their personal opinion on The Trial Of Ubu.

I really wish Nikki Amuka-Bird was getting more film and TV roles, but if this is all we get until Luther returns to our screens, I guess it's worth a look.