For one of the performances of its play Tambo and Bones, the Royal Stratford East theater has taken a decision that does not fail to make people react, beyond the cultural sphere. The establishment has indeed decided for its meeting on July 5, to restrict entries to a closed circle, for an “entirely black identification public”, in order to create a space “freed from white gaze”.
In an ambivalent press release, it is nevertheless specified that “no one is excluded”, during this performance called “Black out”. Theater Royal Stratford East recalls that the first single-sex sitting was held on Broadway in 2019 for Jeremy O. Harris’ play Slave Play, as it felt it was “important for black audiences to be able to experience sitting in a theatrical space where the whole audience looks like them”.
Director Matthew Xia of Tambo and Bones explains on the official website that it was “imperative” to create “such a space”, while “in recent years, a number of playwrights and directors in the United States and the United Kingdom have created private and safe spaces for black viewers to attend productions that explore complex and nuanced racial issues”. The play written by Dave Harris indeed traces African-American history to the “Black Lives Matter” movement through a show of minstrels and hip-hop. Two characters are central to the performance: Tambo, a businessman, and Bones, a hustler.
The play, described by the establishment as a “metatheatrical satire with a strong racial connotation”, faces an outcry from several British personalities. Former First Secretary of State under Theresa May, Damian Green denounces to the Times a “sinister” communication when the show is supposed to be “public”. “If white people put on a show and excluded black people, for just one night, there would be an outcry, deplores Wanjiru Njoya, lecturer in law at the University of Exeter, They would not like someone be racist towards them. Why do they think it’s okay to be racist towards white people?”
The Conservative MP for Clacton, Giles Watling, is also indignant in the columns of the British daily: “Everyone, regardless of sex, race or color, should be able to access all theaters.” Writing in the Daily Mail, Festus Akinbusoye, the elected Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner, claimed the performance would set “a poor and dangerous precedent” and “strongly urged” organizers to cancel the event. The Royal Stratford East theater justifies this discriminatory session, by the fact that it involved “the congregation, the celebration and the healing”.
