Some of us are too young to have seen David Harewood play Othello at the National Theatre in London back in ’97. It was the first time, on that stage, that Shakespeare’s Black lead was played by a Black actor – as opposed to a white one in blackface makeup. Even if you missed that groundbreaking performance, on the basis of Harewood’s star power in the London-set crime drama Pierre, you can be assured he blew the roof off.
Pierre’s co-writer Roy Williams may not be the Bard, but he is another highly acclaimed playwright with an interest in how Black men fare in this country. Pierre on Channel 4 isn’t exactly Othello at the National, either, but it is another cultural milestone in the story of Black British crime drama.
