Jimmy Akingbola a national tour. He played opposite Roger Lloyd-Pack and Shaun Evans in Joe Penhall's award-winning play; it was directed by Kathy Burke. Akingbola later went on to star in "The Cut" at the Donmar Warehouse opposite Ian McKellen, directed by Michael Grandage. Additional roles include Akingbola playing anti-hero Jimmy Porter in the John Osborne play of "Look Back in Anger" at the Jermyn Street Theatre in July 2008; he was the first black actor to play the role. The same year he played the title role of "Othello" for the company Frantic Assembly, which received a TMA Award. Akingbola’s television
John Osborne Hotel in Amsterdam" (1968) won "Evening Standard" Best Play of the Year awards. The latter play features three showbiz couples in a hotel suite, having fled a tyrannical and unpleasant movie producer, referred to as "K.L". John Heilpern confirms the rumor that "K.L" was in fact a portrait of Tony Richardson, seen through Osborne's eyes. Laurie, a screenwriter, a role created by Paul Scofield, is a self-portrait: Osborne at mid-career. John Osborne's plays in the 1970s included "West of Suez" which starred Ralph Richardson, "A Sense of Detachment", first produced at the Royal Court in 1972, and the disappointing "Watch