This thought-provoking play at the Royal Court was excellently acted and deserved the applause it received. Essentially, it represented a challenge to the white majority in the audience to ponder the biases and sense of superiority which lie endemic in our unconscious templates for viewing people and situations.
We have two friends and colleagues - one black (Gary) and the other white (Mark) - who work as white goods repairmen. In the opening act, it's Mark birthday which he is celebrating in Gary and his wife's (Nicky) flat. Also there are Gary's sister, Karen, and their Asian friends Mo and Anjum.
Things take a rapid dive when Victoria, the boss of Gary and Mark who has tagged along gets drunk and betrays her patronising and racist attitudes, demanding that Gary teaches her to dance like a black woman and patting his head in the process.
Everyone is appalled and she is bundled into a taxi. However, the incident weighs on Gary's mind and he confronts Victoria back at work, fully supported by his friend Mark. Victoria is keen to brush it off as too many drinks and denies any prejudice. However, her attitudes are again under the spotlight when Gary fails to get a promotion to team-leader event though he is apparently better qualified than the white candidate who is successful. This incident provokes a crisis and unfolding of Gary's world. Gary quits work much to the anxiety of Nicky who is worried about the implications for their rent and the future of their three children. She adds fuel to Gary's fire by going round to see if she can broker a reconciliation with Victoria. This ends in failure and when it is leaked by Mark it serves as a bitter blow to Gary who decides to walk out of his marriage.
In a twist which seemed less plausible, Mark now makes a move on Nicky which she firmly rejects and puts an end to their friendship. However, the incident leads us to question the genuineness of his professed friendship towards Gary. Nicky's tensions reach a boiling point which she vents on their young son who has a habit of urinating on his school uniform. Karen steps in and takes the children to her house and we have Nicky in a state of well-acted breakdown, followed by a final scene of her reconciling with Gary.
All in all, it was a riveting 95 minutes and one which conveyed very clearly the black perspective of the prejudices they perceive in society - even down to his wife's attitude that she needs to step in and sort things out. Of course, this isn't all necessarily due to race but the play shows the logic of the perception.
It is a well-constructed play with all the characters adding depth. Mo and Anjum's role is particularly interesting. They are a minority but they seem to have better adapted to playing the system - They rent a flat near a good school as their Plan B should their not particularly gifted son fail the 11+. He is being co-tutored with Gary and Nicky's boy. Both boys fail, Gary and Nicky's by a couple of decimal points. Unfortunately, they have no Plan B and the friendship with Mo and Anjum comes to a halt at this event, with Nicky disgusted by their gaming the system.
The acting, direction and set were all great and this was a very worthwhile evening I thought.
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