‘Slave Play’ Author Has Message For UK Prime Minister Opposed To Black-Invited West End Performances: Go Kick Rocks

deadline.com:

Special “Black Out” performances of Jeremy O. Harris‘ stage production Slave Play were well-received by the Broadway community in 2019 when producers of the controversial, acclaimed and emotionally complex play about race relations announced that they would set aside a relatively few performances to invite all-Black audiences, an effort to welcome a group traditionally marginalized or even excluded by Broadway.

The Black Out Nights promotion was intended to both expose Broadway theater to a community that may not have been in the habit of attending, and to allow Black audiences to experience, as a community, the thorny-issued satire.

But when a similar plan was announced for the upcoming West End production – starring, among others, Kit Harington – the promotion met with resistance from some quarters, most notably from the UK Prime Minister himself.

In a recent BBC report, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak‘s official spokesman said the PM had read media reports about the plan, described as featuring performances “free from the white gaze,” and found the matter “concerning.” “The prime minister,” the spokesman said, “is a big supporter of the arts and he believes that the arts should be inclusive and open to everyone, particularly where those arts venues are in receipt of public funding.