by “Is London ready for the Slave Play?” She asks the booking website for the London translation of Jeremy O Harris’s play about race, sexuality and the psychological legacy of slavery. It’s a good question. Slave Play is Broadway’s most acclaimed show in recent years (it’s received the most Tony Award nominations ever), but it’s also the most divisive.
It’s hard to talk about the specific appeal of Slave Play without giving away a key plot point. Suffice it to say that there are three mixed-race couples who undertake “antebellum” sex therapy to address, in each case, the declining sexual interest of the black partner, and trade in degrading images of black people, especially sexual stereotypes of black women, in ways that pose very uncomfortable questions about sexual desire and the abuse of inherited history.
The Broadway run was the subject of regular walks. Some people accused him of being racist against white people. Others accused the playwright, who is black and queer, of writing the play for white people, which Harris denied. When it premiered at New York Theater Workshop, before its Broadway transfer, a black woman launched a petition to shut it down who described the play as “disrespectful” in ways that left her “traumatized” and “guilty”. which attracted 6,000 signatures. .
The London production, starring Kit Harington, which opened previews on Saturday, also attracted complaints by announcing two “black out” nights, in which black audiences are invited to experience the play “free from the white gaze “. A similar performance took place in New York and more than 800 black people showed up, making the audience 99 percent black. The producers also clarified that no member of the audience will be turned away after Rishi Sunak joined the chorus that arose in some quarters to condemn the move as racist and divisive. In addition, theatergoers are offered self-care tips for dealing with the overt themes. All this adds to the delightful air of controversy in the play.
So is London ready? On the first night of previews, the hall was almost full – not bad as it was one of the first warm nights of the summer and the Euros are in full swing (although Harington’s box office appeal may have something to do with with him). At a rough guess, the audience was about 30 percent black. There were no walks. The atmosphere felt caring and supportive.
After the show, the people I spoke to offered very different opinions. A middle-aged white woman, who loved him, said she thought the tension within the audience was “unbelievable”. A mixed race couple sitting next to me knew nothing about the play before booking it, and the evening was surprising and exciting in a positive way. “I’m Indian and Rowan is Irish so there was a lot about the power dynamics within the couples that were developing,” Arti, 41, said.
Another theater man, American and black, who saw the play twice in New York agrees. “Some people find it hard to believe that a black woman would [want to behave] the way we look on stage,” she says. (It would be a shame to reveal what she’s referring to but the final scene is undeniably challenging.) “It’s hard for them to wrap their heads around it. Part of the drama is asking what it means to listen to someone else when you have trouble reconciling what you’re hearing with how you want to feel about yourself.
“But I think the audience tonight received it differently than they did in New York. On Broadway people used to make it about themselves; their attitude was ‘I wouldn’t behave like that, or I’m not like this, or like that’.”
Several audience members I spoke to said they needed more time to “process” the play before they could talk about what was on their mind. On the steps outside the theatre, however, a group of black British women who refused to give their names were clear about what they thought. One said: “My main feeling was: you’re not telling us anything new as black people,” said one. “I went with an open mind. But it was not turbulent or controversial. I thought it was naive, rather than insulting, as if we were [as black people] have no deep understanding of ourselves.”
The group said they would be interested in going to one of the all-black performances. “I want to be in an audience of black people to see their responses. It was muted today because the audience was mostly white.”
Everyone I spoke to agreed that the conceptual boldness and racial provocation would spark heated conversations. “We’re used to art that gives recognition,” said one woman. “Slave Play does that but it’s also about that recognition.” London, over to you.
Slave Play is at the Noel Coward Theater until 21 September. Information: slaveplaylondon.com
