It’s depressing in the extreme how inevitable the fuss is over the Theatre Royal Stratford East’s new play, Tambo & Bones. Specifically over one performance (one), called a Black Out.
The play, by poet Dave Harris, is about two black men stuck in a minstrel show, who aim to get out and get rich as hip hop superstars. When it played off-Broadway, it was described by one critic in an admiring review as “a racially charged metatheatrical satire”. As part of the 29-date run in London, on July 5 the theatre will host a single performance at which they have expressed the hope that the audience can be entirely black, to allow them to enjoy it “free from the white gaze”. It’s a practice that started in the US, and has been described as “healing” for the audiences of colour who have attended the events.
