Sheila Atim

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] In 2020, she told the King's College alumni magazine that "I look back and feel a strong connection between my scientific and artistic sides. Science often comes up in my work – even the way I approach things in the rehearsal room is affected by having taken BioMed. Sometimes it’s little private parallels and analogies I make for myself."[10]

The Lightning Child, written by Walker and Arthur Darvill, ran for several weeks from mid-September 2013[11] and was the first musical staged at Shakespeare's Globe.[12] 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".[13] The Independent said that despite the production being overlong and having problems with the structure, it was "hard not to like" the show.[12]

Atim (right), with Damson Idris 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.[14] What's On Stage praised her "mesmeric physical presence"[15] and The Yorkshire Times review said that Atim "dominated the stage".[16] 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[17] and "tremendous stage presence" by The Daily Telegraph.[18] In the autumn of 2014 she appeared in Rachel at the Finborough Theatre[19] and followed this by joining the touring production of Kae 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,[20] Julia in Love's Sacrifice,[21] and Assistant to Lady Politic Would-Be in Volpone.[22] Walker's The Etienne Sisters, which included songs composed by Atim, opened two days before the end of her run in Volpone.[22][23]

Atim's first major stage role[24] 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."[25] The New York Times described a "spine-tingling production" and suggested that Atim's character may be an emblem of Africa.[26] 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][24][27] 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"[28] 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."[29] Atim won a 2018 Clarence Derwent Award, presented to best supporting actors in London productions, for her roles in The Tempest and Les Blancs.[30]

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."[31]

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.[32] 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".[33] The Times stated that "Atim, in a strong cast, is standout," in an article that was headlined "She sings Dylan better than Bob."[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[34] and won the 2018 Laurence Olivier award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.[35][36]

In 2018, she played Emilia opposite Mark Rylance's Iago in Othello at Shakespeare's Globe, where according to The Independent, "she unleashed a fury that blew the greatest actor of his generation off the stage."[37]

Atim presented her first play as an author, Anguis, at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[24] It features Cleopatra being interviewed by a scientist and singing, Atim also having composed the songs.[38] The Times considered it to be an "intriguing look at female power ... that marks [Atim] as a playwright to watch",[39] whereas The Scotsman, while 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."[38]

Atim played Viola and Sebastian in a film version of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and won the Screen Nation 2019 Best Female Performance film award.[40][41] In 2018 she portrayed Limehouse Nell in ITV's Harlots.[37]

Atim plays piano, violin, bass, and drums.[37] She composed the score for the play Time Is Love at London's Finborough Theatre in 2019,[42] the year that she was named one of the cast of the Game of Thrones prequel series Bloodmoon.[43] The planned series was cancelled following the pilot episode.[44][24] She appeared as an alleged witch in the 2020 BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse[45][24] and in 2021 she appeared in the television series The Underground Railroad[24] and The Irregulars[46] and the film Bruised.[47]

In June 2019, Atim was named an MBE for her services to drama.[48] She is also on the Board of Trustees of The Old Vic Theatre Trust.[49]