For the second instalment of the Tricycle theatre’s Not Black And White season, Kwame Kwei-Armah has written a lucid, witty and pertinent play which asks if the Obama era could propel a black mayor into office in London.
Jeremy Charles has inadvertently made himself the ideal candidate. A well-spoken, middle class, prominent television personality, Charles has just gained extra kudos by standing up to a gang of knife-wielding youths live on camera. Crucially, they are black and so is he, and the campaign team searching for a suitable candidate seizes upon this as the hook with which to gain the vote of the white community. Being black, Charles can speak out against knife crime among black youth, echoing the unspoken fears of the white community. The black vote, it is assumed, would be automatic.
But as Charles says, “I don’t do the black thing.” He has so far lived his life without playing the race card and he doesn’t want to do it now, even if it could put him in office. His campaign team – scheming head honcho Howard Jones (Karl Collins), smooth-talking Jennifer (Jaye Griffiths) and money man Rav (Adhin Galeya) – think differently.
Kwei-Armah’s play is as much about class as colour. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s Charles is a naive, slightly pompous but well-intentioned do-gooder who has had the advantage of further education and has fashioned a lucrative career in daytime television. Lavelle (Aml Ameen), the knife-carrier Charles stood up to who he is now mentoring, thinks Charles’s white wife and comfortable lifestyle indicate he has become white himself. But Charles tries to make him see – in his unfortunately patronising manner – that making the most of the advantages open to you is not about colour at all.
Shot through with humour, Kwei-Armah’s dialogue has some topical moments, not least the opening scene when we see Charles attempting to swat a fly; could he be the person to swat as efficiently as Obama? Laughs also come when the campaign team agree that Boris Johnson has shown that anyone can walk off the street and become mayor.
Use of video, references to real-life politicians and a minimal, modern set create a highly contemporary atmosphere for a drama which could be in gestation for real behind closed doors in London, right now.
CB