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The History, Theatrical Performance Work and Achievements of Talawa Theatre Company 1986-2001
Volume II of 11
By David Vivian Johnson
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in British and Comparative Cultural Studies
University of Warwick, Centre for British and Comparative Cultural Studies
May 2001 Table of Contents
VOLUME 11
5. Chapter Five American Plays 193-268 ......
6. Chapter Six English Plays 269-337 ......
7. ChapterSeven Conclusion 338-350 ......
Appendix I David Johnsontalks to Yvonne Brewster LouiseBennett 351-367 about ......
Appendix 11 List Talawa.Productions 368-375 of ......
Bibliography 376-420 ...... AmericanPlays Johnson 193
CHAPTER FIVE
AMERICAN PLAYS
This chapteraims to demonstratesome of what TalawaTheatre Company can be seento have achieved through its performances of contemporary American plays on the British stage. As with Chapter Four the analysis of the productions also illustrates the company's commitmentto its missionstatement as is seenthrough Talawa presenting its audience with theatricalwork that raisesissues that are directly relevantto contemporaryblack
British society.
The chapteris divided into two partsand firstly explainsthe genrewithin the contextof the modemBritish stagein a bid to highlight the uniquenessand subsequentachievements of Talawa'swork. Secondlyaspects of all three of the company'sperformances in this genreare examined.The playsare discussedin chronologicalorder of performance.
The first play to be examinedis Talawa'sperformance of Ntozke Shange'sThe Love
SpaceDemands. Comments focus on:
9 The structureand performancelanguage of the piece.
The secondplay to be lookedat is Talawa's performanceof Dr EndeshaIda Mae's From
TheMississippi Delta. After a generalintroduction to the productionanalysis focuses on:
* The languageof the performanceand the critical receptionthe show received. AmericanPlays Johnson 194
The third play for discussionis Talawa'sperformance of PearlCleage's Flyin' West.
Analysis focuses on:
9 The presentwriter's stanceas Pre-ProductionResearcher of the play.
* The pre-productionresearch process and what the researchpackage contains.
9 The Artistic Director's intentions in choosing the play.
-* The Artistic Director and the performers'response to and working with the research
package.
* The performance.
Of the four genresthat Talawa's productionshave been divided into for this studyit is the ' American playsthat makeup the smallestproportion of the company'swork. With three
suchworks to the company'scredit the presentwriter definesTalawa's plays in this genre
by the following criteria:
o They are all by black femaleAmerican writers.
1 The Americanplays that Talawahas performed are: NtozakeShange, The Love Space Demands, 1-3 1 October 1992. Dr EndeshaIda Mae Holland, From the MississippiDelta, I April -1 May 1992. PearlCleage, Flyin' West,5-28 June 1997. AmericanPlays Johnson 195
9 They presentissues facing black peoplegenerally and black womenspecifically.
life. * They revealaspects of black American life that may be connectedto black British
e They take place in North America and require an American accent in performance.
There is no evidence to suggestthat Talawa's performance of American plays has aimed by specifically at doing work that meets the above criteria. The criteria have been designed
the present writer for the purpose of this thesis and the categories have been drawn up to
best demonstratethe work that Talawa has already done in this area. It is possible that later
Americanplays performed by the companymay requiresubsequent writers to add
additionalcriteria if they too choseto define the company'swork by what hasalready
beenproduced, as Talawa is likely to expandon the type of work it hasdone:
Whoevertakes over from me shouldexpand and not marginalise
the company.As a black companyif we producetoo much of the
havehad it it becomes difficult to be samething we .... too seen
for anythingelse.
Additionally, Talawa's Board are committedto the companyproducing work that is of 3 quality regardlessof the racial origins or genderof the writer.
2 Interviewwith Yvonne Brewsterby David Johnson,Talawa offices London, 14 March 2000. 3 At Talawa'sBoard meeting 7 December1999 the company'sartistic policy was discussed. Board memberMary Lauderrecommended that Talawa shouldbe aiming to produce'quality full length plays'. This suggestionwas supportedby the Board. AmericanPlays Johnson 196
For the presentwriter Talawa'sachievements in this genreare perhaps best understood
within the recenthistorical contextof the British stageand what can be seenas its
acceptanceof Americantheatre. There are two kinds of Americantheatre that havebeen
regularlyavailable to British audiencesthroughout the last century.The first group is
made up of contemporary American classics produced by internationally renowned
Americanwriters in the last fifty years,such as TennesseeWilliams (1911-1983),Arthur
Miller (b. 1915),Edward Albee (b. 1928)and morerecently David Mamet (b. 1947).
Williams's work can be seento havebeen a regularfeature of the London stage,both in
the WestEnd and on the fringe circuit for over five decades.His play TheGlass
4 Menagerie(1945) was first performedat London's HaymarketTheatre on 28 July 1948.
His later playsA StreetCar NamedDesire (1947)and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955, and
winner of the Pulitzer Prize in the sameyear) havealso beencontinually performedin
Londonsince their creation.Williams's work can be seento havebeen representative of
southernlife without remainingregional. His depictionsare from a white perspectivethat
say little of the horror blackslived through at his time of writing.5
4 TennesseeWilliams, TheGlass Menagerie (London: Heinemarmeducational books, 1968),p. xviii. 5 Details of performancedates for productionsfootnoted throughout this chapterare up tp dateat the time of writing (May 2001). Extractsfrom A StreetCar NamedDesire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (directedby the presentwriter), were performedin April 1997by studentsat Ealing Tertiary CollegeLondon, as part of their PerformingArts course.Additionally, Williams's work was to be seenon the London stagewith Baby Doll at the Albery Theatreuntil 26 August 2 000, Baby Doll at The RoyalNational Theatre,from 6 June2000 for ten weeks,and OrpheusDescending at the DonmarWarehouse until 12 August 2000.See internet site: httl2://www. albemarle-london.com/plays. htmi -Albemarle of London's West End TheatreGuide- Plays andComedies - 24/07/00 None of Williams's plays featuredas part of London's West End theatrethroughout 2001. Seeinternet site: http://www. albemarle-london.com/plays. htmi - Albemarleof London's West End TheatreGuide - Plays andComedies - 02/04/01 Detailsof the life and work of TennesseeWilliams can be found at the following internetsite: httl2://www, olemis.edu/depts/enp-lish/ms-writers/dir/williams-tennessee. -Tennessee Williams - 01/08/00 AmericanPlays Johnson 197
Having an equally successful career at the sametime was fellow American Arthur Miller.
Miller's most famousplays that can be seento havehad an extensivelife on the British stageinclude; All My Sons(1947), Death ofa Salesman(1949, also 1949Pu tzer Prize winner), TheCrucible (1953) andA ViewFrom TheBridge (1955).As with Williams
Miller's plays seemto have become a part of British theatre as they are performed 6 regularly in London, on the fringe circuit and by non-professional groups. Miller's works
presentmoral issuesfor his charactersto work throughthat often highlight a pastwrong-
doing which the charactersare forced to deal with in the course of the play.
The third of the Americanwriters whosework still featureson the British stageis Edward
Albee (1928)7perhaps best known for his plays Who'sAfraid Of Virginia Woy? (1962)
and A Delicate Balance (1964 and Pulitzer Prize winner in 1967).8 Albee's work explores
and attacksthe 'contentment'of middle classsuburban America. Along with Williams and
6 Both All My Sonsand A ViewFrom TheBridge were performedover a two year period between1983/4 as part of the Liverpool University DramaSociety repertoire. In 1992A ViewFrom TheBridge was usedas a GSCEDrama (General Certificate of SecondaryEducation) examination text at Warwick Park Secondary School,London. Additionally, Miller's All My Sonswas at The RoyalNational Theatre'sCottesloe Theatre until 18 October2000. See internet site: http://www. albemarle-london. com/plays. html - Albemarleof London's West End TheatreGuide - Playsand Comedies - 24/07/00 As with TennesseeWilliams noneof Miller's playsfeatured as part of London's West End theatre throughout2001. Seeinternet site: http://www. albemarle-london/com/plays. html - Albemarleof London's West End TheatreGuide Playsand Comedies 02/04/01 7 - - Seeintemet site providing bibliographicalinformation on Albee: http://www. fas. harvard. edu/- art/albee2.htmI - EdwardAlbee 24/07/00 8A - Delicate Balancewas performedat London's HaymarketTheatre between 21 October 1997and 4 April 1998 starringMaggie Smith. Seeinternet site: http://www. albemarle-london.com/delicate. htmi -A Delicate Balance- 24/07/00 Albe's Finding the Sun (1983) andMarriage Play (1987) were performedat London'sNational Theatre between8-24 May 2001. Seeinternet site: http://www. albemarle-london. com/mt-sunmarriaize. htm-1 - Finding the Sun/MarriagePlay - 02/04/01 AmericanPlays Johnson 198
is Miller, Albee's work is both performed in London and on the fringe circuit and also 9 usedas syllabusmaterial for dramacourses in British educationalestablishments.
The youngercontemporary classical American writer David Mamet continuesto receive be recognitionboth in Americanand British theatre.Mamet's literary successcan seento
havebegun in 1976with threeOff-Off Broadwayplays Duck Variations,Sexual Peversity
in Chicago,and American Buffalo. Followedby The Woods(1977), Edmund(1982) and 10 Glengarry Glen Ross(1984, also Pulitzer Prizewinner in the sameyear). Mamet as the
most contemporaryof this group exploresAmerican life and corruptionand often deals
with aspectsof life in the theatreand business.Mamet's work has also beenperformed on
the London stage."
In addition to their classicsAmerican playwrights have found a niche on the British stage
in the form of musicals.This theatricalform hashad an active life on the Londonstage
throughoutthe last century.12 For the presentwriter it is noteworthythat noneof this
Americanwork (like the contemporaryclassics referred to above)presented any aspectof
black American life as a centralfocus. Wherethe musicalgenre saw black life being
depictedon the British stagewas more often throughsuch work as the mammystyle Black
and "ite Minstrel Showthat concentratedon a white perceptionof a black stereotype.
9 Albee's Zoo Story (1958) was usedas a prescribedtext on the Stagingand Techniqueselement of the MastersDegree in Dramaand TheatreStudies at Royal Holloway and BedfordNew College,London University,between 1989 and 1991. 10Further information on the writer and his work can be found at the following internetsite: http://www. levity-com/corduro -David Mamet - 23/07/00 " David Mamet's AmericanBuffalo (1976) was performedat the DonmarWarehouse, London in February 2000.Speed the Plow (1988) was performedat the Duke of York's Theatre,London from 21 August 2000. AmericanPlays Johnson 199
Despitethe degradingnature of the work depictingblacks as servilenon-thinkers the work was hugely popular with British audiences.13
In 1975British musicaltheatre saw an importantaddition as regardsblack contributionto what may be seenessentially as a British/Americandomain, with the performanceof two
African Ipi Tombi Kiva Zulu 14Although this that from Africa productions and . work came did not depict any aspectof black British life, by the natureof its existenceit can be seen to havecreated a black presencein mainstreamBritish theatre.This did not however causea surgeof black British musicalperformance work in the mainstream.Considerably
more significant in the British mainstreamhas been the continuedperformance of
Americanmusical work.
In the last twenty-five yearspopular American television showsand films have
experienceda successfultransformation to the format of musicaltheatre attracting
audienceswith productionruns lastingup to five years.Representing this phenomenonare
the following Americanmusicals which were beingperformed in Londonduring 2000:
Annie (1970),Beauty and TheBeast 0 993), BugsyMalone (1997),Fame (1994), Grease
(1978) TheLion King (1997), TheLittle ShopofHorrors (1982),Saturday Night Fever
Mamet'sBoston Marriage was performedat the DonmarWarehouse, London between 8 March and 14 April 2001.See internet site: bttp://www. albemalre-london-com/bostonmarriap-e. html - Boston Marriage- 02/04/01 2 StanleyGreen, Encyclopaedia of the Musical (London: Casselland CompanyLimited, 1976). 3 Brian Rust,London Musical ShowsOn Record1897-1976 (Middlesex: General Gramophone Publications ltd, 1977),p. 43, 'There havebeen seven Us of this popularstage and televisionshow since its inception in 1962.' 14 Rust,London Musical ShmvsOn Record,pp. 1 45 and 159respectively: lpi Tombi Kiva Zulu Her Majesty'sTheatre, 19 November1975. New LondonTheatre, 24 July 1975. Transferredto Piccadilly, 23 September1975. AmericanPlays Johnson 200
(1998), Titanic (1997) and The Wiz (1975). Again none of this work deals with any aspect of black life with the exceptionperhaps of The Wiza contemporaryperformance of the 15 Wizard of Oz (1903) featuring an all-black cast.
Whilst this study is theatre-basedit shouldbe notedthat althoughclassical American theatreand musicalsdid little to highlight varied aspectsof black Americanlife, American film and television did. This is reflectedin the numberof films and seriesin the last six 16 decadesthat have become widely popular in Britain. During this time many contemporaryblack Americanfilm and television starshave been born who havebecome significantrole modelsto blacksin Britain.
Actor/rapperWill Smith is perhapsthe most recentblack Americansuperstar. Seen on
British television starringin ChannelFour's TheFresh Prince ofBel Air, at the cinemain
Hollywood blockbustersIndependence Day (1996) andMen in Black (1997), and making
hit rap recordsincluding Willennium(1999), Smith hasbecome one of Hollywood's
hottestproperties. The impactof his work has beenso greaton the black British public
specifically and the British mainstreamgenerally, that Britain appearsto havemodelled its
own black television presenter/rapperRichard Blackwood directly on him. Blackwood
15See internet site providing informationon Broadwayshows being performedin London: http:Hmusicals net - Musicals. net/Broadway Musicals - 25/07/00 Datesin bracketsrefer to original performancedates. Both Fameand TheLion King were performed throughout2001. Fame ran until September2001. Seeinternet site: http://www. albemarle- london. com/fame.htm] - Fame-The Musical - 02/04/01 Bookingsfor TheLion King up until 31 March 2002 went on salefrom I March 2001. Seeinternet site: http://www. albemarle-london. com/Lionking. htmi - Disney's The Lion King - 02/04/01 " The following internetsite presentsa comprehensivelisting of black Americanfilms with black performersin a major role. The work is divided into the following categories:Action, Blaxploitation, Comedyand Drama.All of the work hasbeen available to British audiences. //www. http: crosswinds.net/-deeliea/movielist. htmi - Black Movie List - 25/07/00 AmericanPlays Johnson 201 whose comic style can be seen as an English version of Smith now has his own television show on ChannelFour, TheRichard BlackwoodShow, and one successfulrecord, no Da
Man?Wamma UsedTo Say (2000),behind him. This kind of Americanstar being reproducedin an English style may feedthe expectationsof black Britons wishing to pursue a performance career. Additionally, the present writer suggeststhat it is partly due to the black film and televisionwork that hascome from America that more black performershave been seen in everyBritish soapopera in the last decade.This presence will in turn influence how black people are viewed by wider society. 17
There is a casehowever, that suggeststhat successfulblack British performersare not necessarilyencouraged to continueto work in Britain when their work hasbeen recognisedinternationally. This can be seento havebeen the casefor black British actress
MarianneJean-Baptiste who was nominatedfor a GoldenGlobe in 1996,an Oscarand a
Bafta in 1997for bestsupporting actress in her role as HortenseCumberbatch in Mike
Leigh's Secretsand Lies (1996).Jean Baptiste is the only black British personto have beennominated for an Oscar.Despite her successin this British film shefound she receivedlittle attentionin Britain but was in demandfor work in the USA.18 There is evidenceto supporther claim that:
The old men runningthe industryjust havenot got a clue.
They've got to cometo termswith the fact that Britain is no
longera totally white placewhere peopleride horses,wear long
17 Seeinternet site: bttl2://www. enp-l. virp-inia. edu/-enwrIO16/amc2d/cosby. htmi CosbyShow Changes Way Blacks -The the are Viewed - 28/07/00 AmericanPlays Johnson 202
frocks and drink tea. The national dish is no longer fish and chips
19 it's curry.
Whenthe British screenorganised a paradeof youngstars to celebratethe fiftieth anniversary of the Cannes film festival in 1997 Jean-Baptiste was not invited although
Secretsand Lies was a Canneswinner that year.The paradewhich included:Rufus
Sewell,Emily Watson,Kate Winslet had no black actors.20
In light of the above,Talawa's work in the Americangenre can be seento be pioneering for the contemporaryBritish stageas it offered a new kind of Americanwork to British theatre.Whilst all of the playsdiscuss American life from a black femaleperspective the presentwriter believesTalawa's reasonsfor decidingto work within this genreare wider than the productionsmay at first appearto suggest,and may have includedsome of the following:
9 Thereis a well documentedand longerestablished /acknowledged history of black
writing in the USA than in the UK, giving Talawaa wide rangeof texts to choosefrom
for performance.
18Interview with MarianneJean-Baptiste by David Johnson,Ms Baptiste'sLondon home, 20 March 1997. 19 Dan Glaister,'Film starssnub is no secret:Oscar Actress, hits out at 'old men' of British film industry'. Guardian, 15 May 1997,p. 3. 20 internet See site: htin://www. filmunlimited. co. uk/news storv/p-uardian/0.4029.68705.00html4-toD - Jean Marianne Baptiste - 31/07/00 AmericanPlays Johnson 203
* Introducing such work to the British stagewould expand the repertoire of black British
work thus ensuringthat Talawa's work doesnot becomepigeonholed and perhapslater
marginalised.
9 Working with Americantexts would allow themesthat mirror black experiencesin the
UK (and possiblyinternationally) to be explored.
* The work would help to create a body of international black theatrical history in
Britain.
The fact that Talawa'sreasons for performingthis work can be seento be multiple is demonstratedin the ensuingdiscussion of the eachof Talawa'sAmerican plays. This however,is a by-productof the centraldebate which aimsto highlight what the present writer regardsas Talawa's specific achievementsin this areaof the company'swork. AmericanPlays Johnson 204
The Love Space Demands
BetweenI and 31 October 1992Talawa presented its tenth show and first Americanwork with a productionof NtozakeShange's The Love SpaceDemands at The Cochrane
Theatre,London. The production,which discussesthe writer's black, American,female perspective on sex, love and relationships was part of the launch of the CLR James
Institute,and was also performedto commemorateJames's ninetieth birthday. It was fitting that Shange'swork was usedfor the occasionas Jamesheld her work in high
Talawa intended the regard.21 also the productionto show the company'sunderstanding of black community'screative journey in Britain so far.22 The following discussionoutlines the structureof the work and commentson the oral languageand useof music,dance and movementin the production.
The structureof Talawa's performancewas set by the written text. TheLove Space
Demandsentitled a 'choreopoem'by Shangecan be describedas a seriesof poemsloosely
linked by their themeand style to createa sequenceof short performancepieces flowing
into eachother to form a single longerperformance. Shange can be seento have
constructedthis format for her messageas shefelt it bestsuited her purposeof creating
poetry specifically written for performance, 'Poetry was written to be performed to
everybody.23 Shangedescribes The Love SpaceDemands as:
21 SeeTalawa production archives for TheLove Space Demands - publicity file- productionflyer. James states,'I haveread no finer modempoet. ' 22 Ibid., Brewsterstates, 'The festival will exhibit and celebratethe wealth of creativetalent now at ease with itself after decadesof frustrationthrough having no senseof belonging.' 23Carole Woddis, 'Enuf Said', What'son in London,30 September-7 October1992, p. 13. AmericanPlays Johnson 205
A collageof experience... the poemsand monologuesare real 24 questionsI haveasked and the sharpedges of the answers.
Talawaperformed the poemin the order set by Shangein its threeequal sections as outlined below:
Section One;
Devotionto one love or another.
Serial Monogomy.
Intermillent Celibacy.
SectionTwo;
A third generationgeechee mythfor yr birthday.
Male English as a secondlanguage.
IfI go all the way wilhout you wherewould I go?
SectionThree;
Looseningstrings or give me an 'A'.
Openuplihis is Mepolice.
25 Crack Annie.
24 Shangedescribes her work in the productionflyer. 25 Eachtitle is written as it appearsin the productionprogramme for the show. Shangehowever, does not use any capital lettersfor her titles in the script. AmericanPlays Johnson 206
Being divided in this way meant that Talawa's performance would automatically have an appearanceof uniformity and balancethat could be seento representthe clarity of the outsideworld. This could be drawn in stark contrastto the streamof consciousnesseffect of the piecesdelivered by Breezethat would offer the detailsof her characters'emotional state.
On a practicallevel Shange'sstructure also enabledTalawa to divide eachpiece with a musical interlude allowing the company to run the production from beginning to end with no interval. For the presentwriter Talawa'sartistic decisioncan be seento have been aimedat establishinga techniquethat would maintainthe intensityof the piecewithout breakingits flow. Additionally, the choicemay also point to the company'smove towards a more experimentaltype of theatrethat complementedboth the structureand emotional roller-coastertheme of TheLove SpaceDemands.
Whilst the structureof Talawa's performancewas guidedby Shange,the company's chosenoral languageof performanceenabled Talawa to demonstrateboth the protagonist'sskill in this area, and how the conipanycan be seento be working with a form of oral languageand voice that is uncommonin black British theatre.In order to highlight the extentto which Talawa,was ableto makethe work its own in this areasome commenton Shange'stext is firstly providedbelow.
Although Shangedoes not give a specific direction as to how the text should be spoken, the text itself indicateshow the play shouldsound. The attemptto clarify the soundof the AmericanPlays Johnson 207 work is achievedby Shange'sinsistence on writing semi-phonetically.Words that would normally end in Ing' are shown as ending with 'in", as in askin' stoppin' demandin'
Shangefrequently uses her own spelling of the following words: 'About' is written as
'abt' or 'bout', 'because'as 'cuz', 'could' as 'cd', 'full of' as 'fulla', 'mother fuckers' as
'muthafuckahs', 'wouldn't' as 'wdn't', and 'your' as 'yr'. Additionally, the writer chooses not to use any capital letters. Her work benefits from three kinds of punctuation only: questionmarks, speech marks and a sign written as/ which indicatesa comma.The majority of the languageof the script remains however, in 'standard American English'.
The presentwriter suggeststhat Shange'schoice of written languagecan be seenas a rejectionof the 'standardAmerican' form and in this regardcan be seenas an antilanguageas it appearsto breakcultural normsof acceptedoral forms. Shangedoes not want her charactersto aspireto the ways of affluent Americanlife that they are generally excludedfrom becauseof their low economicstatus. This linguistic specificity meantthat as the entiretyof the speechwould be deliveredby protagonistJean 'Binta' Breezemuch of the linguistic successof Talawa'sproduction would hingeon Breeze'sability to find an appropriaterange of languageand voices for her charactersthat would work with
Talawa's audience:26
The languagewas determinedby Breeze.I didn't haveto do any
work. Jeanand the castworked throughthe octavesof the piece
by discussion,and myjob was to makethe evennessof the keel
26A biography of Jamaica'sdub-poet Jean'Binta' Breezeis found at the following internetsite: httl2://www, demon. html#32 pandon. co.uk/b. - Jean'Binta" Breeze- On the Edgeof an Island- 01/08/00 American Plays Johnson 209
27 ok.
Talawa'sarchival video of the performanceillustrates that Breezehad no difficulty producingat leasttwo Americanaccents. Her accuracycan in part be attributedto the fact that shehad lived and worked in America for manyyears. For the first poem,devotion to one lover or anotherBreeze's character's accent is that of the deepAmerican South. For the secondpiece, serial monogamythe accentof the uppermiddle classnondescript strata of American executive society is used. In addition to highlighting her own talent Breeeze's useof multiple accentscan be seento add to Talawa's presentationof verbal repertoire which onceagain illustrates the easewith which Talawa's performerscan be seento work with an Americanaccent. During the courseof her performanceBreeze produces at least two further speechstyles further demonstratingher talent and verbal repertoire.
28 In the pieceopen uplihis is thepolice Breezeis requiredto speakSpanish. Althoughthe level of Spanishlanguage use is basic,linguistically, culturally and intellectuallythe use of Spanishmay appearto bring Talawa's work to a more linguistically 'sophisticated' level. Unlike the majority of Talawa's work, with Thelove SpaceDemands the languages of the text may be seenas having a dual status.On one level the statusis higher than the
Caribbeanforms usedin the majority of Talawa's productions:American English and
Spanish.On a secondlevel their statusis lessenedbecause they are black American
Englishand working classSpanish speech forms. Breezedemonstrates that she is able to deliver her Spanishvoice with conviction and accuracyof accent.It is not clear how she is
27 Interviewwith Yvonne Brewsterby David Johnson,Talawa offices London,6 January1997. AmericanPlays Johnson 209 ableto do this as shewas given no languagecoaching in this area.The presentwriter suggeststhat perhapsBreeze had becomeaware of this speechstyle whilst living in New
York whereSpanish is widely spoken.
In Talawa'sperformance much of the Spanishprovided by Shange'stext was omitted in favour of introducinga Caribbeanblackness to the languagethrough Breeze's use of her nativeJamaican monolingual patois. Here Breeze's fourth speechstyle is demonstrated 29 intermittentlywith the sameease with which sheperformed the entire poem. For the presentwriter this was a strategicartistic decisionthat would help to aim Breeze's character'slanguage use at Talawa's black British audiencethus makingthe performance appearmore relevantto them.
Prior to this productionTalawa's work could not be termedas linguistically offensive.The
company'sperformance of TheLove SpaceDemands however, can be seento have
offered a new forrn of oral languageto Talawa's audience.This is demonstratedby the
widespreaduse of Americanslang and expletives.For the presentwriter the violent
languageof the work is seenin the useof words that appearto havebecome a normal part
of working classblack American life. Whilst words suchas 'niggah', as seenin a third
generationgeechee mythforyr birthday and 'muthafucka' in intermittentcelibacy, may be
part of everydayspeech in someAmerican communities, these words may havea greater
impacton the black British audience.For the presentwriter this may be due to the fact that
2' A translationof the Spanishis providedin the glossaryon the last pageof the productionprogramme. See Talawaproduction archives for TheLove Space Demands - publicity file. 29 The introductionof Jamaicanpatois to the performanceis Talawa's invention as this speechis not scripted.Perhaps stereotypically the speechis usedin one liners to expressanger or forjokes. AmericanPlays Johnson 210 these words are used less freely in British speechand have therefore maintained a greater depth of their original negative meaning. Also this language is encountered even less on the British stagethan in British societygenerally. In this regardTalawa can be seento be preparedto breaknew linguistic boundariesfor itself and by extensionblack British theatre generally. This is further demonstratedby Talawa's performance of the sexual language of The Love Space Demands.
For the present writer the oral language of Talawa's perfonnance is partly dictated by the themeswithin eachpiece. As much of the work revolvesaround an aspectof sex, sexual languageis seenin eachof the partsof the performance.Through this work Talawa may be seenas presentinga passionatelysexual voice that is seldomseen in contemporary black British theatre.
Breeze'sperformance can be seento interpretthe sexualityof the poemsto deliver a range
of sexualvoices. There is the sensualsexual voice sheoffers in her performanceof
devotionto onelover or another,where talk is of flowers,their petalsand erotic baths.
Breezeintroduces the sexualvoice of flirtation with serial monogomy,as she imaginesher
various lovers. Shemoves away from the obviously gentleside of sex to producea sexual
voice lacedin animal passionin intermittentcelibacy to demonstratethe losing of one's
virginity. This voice is continuedin mesl (male englishas a secondlanguage): in defence
ofbilingualism. AmericanPlays Johnson 211
In meslBreeze portrays a characterthat believesthe men she is watchingreach a collectivestate of orgasmthrough the excitementthey experienceby viewing the baseball gameand listeningto the languageof it. Through Shange'swriting Breezefinds a passionatelysexual voice that demonstratesto Talawa's audiencehow the neglected womanachieves sexual fulfilment by creatingher own gameout of her experienceof beingneglected by a man addictedto sport. Shemakes herself the centreof it enjoyingall the sexualpleasure she reads into the game,ending the piecewith a heavyorgasmic sigh.
Breeze'scharacter's pleasure and indeedher presencego entirely unnoticedby her partner who is part of the male group watching the game.
Of all the pieceshowever, it is Breeze'sperformance in crack annie that is the most sexuallyviolent. The referencesto 'new pussy' and the useof sexuallanguage to describe the horror of child abuseintroduce an uncommonvoice to Talawa's audience.Black theatre-goingaudiences of showssuch as the Oliver Samuelsmonolingual patois speaking popularvariety would howeverbe familiar with sexuallanguage in performance.For the presentwriter however,the feeling of the sexuallanguage and the sexualvoices that
Breezefinds for her charactersin TheLove SpaceDemands are not of gratuitoussex.
The abovediscussion of oral languagecan be seenas the first layer of languagefor the performance.Added to this arethe varied layersof Talawa's performancethat include, music,dance and movement.In earlierproductions music has generallybeen used in the following threeways: incidentalmusic, music as a direct part of the backgroundaction
(whereaccompanying a dance),or music as a centralaspect of a performance(the protagonist or cast sing as part of the action). AmericanPlays Johnson 212
In The Love Space Demands the company use music on a less obvious and more intense level as it is used throughout the performance to symbolise the psyche of Breeze's charactersor other charactersaround them. Breeze'scharacters' internal and outer battles are developedthrough their relationshipswith the men they confront and whoseanswers they coax through the musicians playing the double bass, the drums and the flute. The responsesthat Breeze'scharacters imagine the mengive them in termsof specificsare unclearbut their musicaltone and Breeze'scharacter's further responsesgive Talawa's audiencea sure indicationof their progressionin eachdebate.
Whilst much of Talawa'swork hasused music, in this productionTalawa can be seento usethe musical instrumentsfor more than the music they provide, as they act momentarily as symbolsof the men Breeze'scharacters feel they have beenlet down by. In this regard
Talawacan be seento haveused the instrumentsas part of the danceand movement elementof the performance.
This is seenin the pieceloosening strings or give me an 'A'where Breeze'scharacter describesa sexualexperience through her interactionwith both the doublebass player and the dancer.Breeze's character is free to movearound her sexualpartner in the piece,the doublebass. The bassplayer does not havethe samefreedom of movement.He responds to her throughhis music whilst the male dancerrepresents him physicallyin the background. AmericanPlays Johnson 213
Like music,dance and movementhave featured prominently in Talawa'sperformances and as seenin the exampleabove are also usedto complementeach other. Generally however,these aspects of the performancehave been incorporated in what may be seento be an obviousway. Charactersdance at Carnival and during the performanceof other
songs. In The Love Space Demands dance and movement are used to explore and express the emotionsof the performersin both obviousand more complexways.
Talawa,used two dancers Prince Morgan and Andrea Whiting for The Love Space
Demands.Choreographed by GretaMendez their appearancesthroughout the performance
gavea physicaldimension to the dialogueof Breeze'scharacters. Where obvious notions
of choreographyare usedthe dancersoffer a straightforwardphysical interpretation to
Breeze's dialogue.
In the solo piecesthis is seenin devotionto one lover or anotherwhere the dancereflects
the bathingritual that Breeze'scharacter discusses. In intermittentcelibacy the female
dancerpresents Breeze's character's desire for sex. Her solo reflectsthe isolation that
Breeze'scharacter feels in not being ableto find a sex partner.In a third generation
geecheemythforyr birthday the femaledancer's solo interpretsBreeze's character's
childbirth theme.The samesimple techniqueis usedeffectively for both dancersin serial
monogomywhere they act the flirtation scenedescribed by Breeze'scharacter and in if i
go all the ivay iviihout you wherewould i go? wheretogetherness and sexualenergy are interpreted. AmericanPlays Johnson 214
For the presentwriter, whereTalawa's useof danceis more innovativeis wherethe notions of choreography are more complex and are used to predict the spoken language.
The effect is one that the presentwriter describesas a surpriseand echo.The surprise elementis in the fact that what is said, doesnot immediatelymatch the changein moodas performedby the dancers.Usually Breeze'scharacter is passivewhilst the dancehas progressedinto a more lively stageof the argument.The echois experiencedwhen
Breeze'scharacter in telling her tale describesthe action that the audiencehas already
seeninterpreted through dance.
This is seenin mesl (maleenglish as a secondlanguage): in defenseofhilingualism where
Breeze'scharacter's description of her gamefollows the movementof the dancers.
Throughthe dancersthe audienceis madeaware that her gameis an amalgamationof the
gamesthat keepher partneraway from her. The dancersreveal how the new game
revolvesaround Breeze's character's sexual fantasies and ultimate orgasmbefore we hear
her versionof it. Talawauses the sametechnique to disturbingeffect in crack annie.
Whilst Breeze'scharacter expresses a confusionand tries to explain her reasonfor
allowing the eventswhich occurredto happen,the dancersperform the child rapescene
beforeBreeze's character can describeit. Presentedin this way Breeze'scharacter's lines
can also be seenas a form of filling in the gapsas we learnthat the victim is her daughter
usedfor sex by Breeze'scharacter's drug-pusher.
For the presentwriter Talawa's useof music, danceand movementin the performancecan
be seento mirror eachother. They are usedas a meansof enhancingthe messagesof the
oral speech.This can be seento heightenthe seriousnessof the issuesin the performance AmericanPlays Johnson 215 which, alreadyintense, can be seento havetheir depth increasedby beinginterpreted in multiple forms. Shange'swork may be regardedas having enabledTalawa to demonstrate both the will and ability to developa contemporaryand sophisticatedstyle of direction that is entirely its own.
In light of the abovediscussion the presentwriter feels it would be fair to suggestthat
Talawa'sperformance of TheLove SpaceDemands can be seento havepresented the
companyand even its most forward thinking audiencewith manymodern sexual and
violent issuesto work with:
Jean'Binta' Breezeoozes ease and energy,embracing poetry,
danceand musicwith brilliant laid back panache.Her monologue
is a string of NtozakeShange's poems on sex and affection:a
radical and outspokenwork ('niggers' and 'new pussy') rangingfrom
the comic sketcheson 'serial monogomy'to a painful poemon child
30 sexualabuse.
By the time Talawa had performedThe Love Space Demands the companywas thirteen
yearsold. The presentwriter suggeststhat the early teenageyears of the company
reflectedan adolescentdesire to shockand rebel as Talawa's work appearedto be entering
30Kate Bassett,'The Love SpaceDemands', City Limits, 15-22October 1992.The pagenumber of the review is unavailable.Records of City Limits are held in the newspapersection of the British Library London,until September1992 only. After this point recordscease due to what is documentedin the newspaperarchives as, 'end of circulation'. The last formerly recordedcontact details of City Limits appear in, Willings PressGuide Vol. I (West Sussex:Reed Information Services,Ltd., 1993),p. 369. None of the given contactdetails pertainto City Limits any longer.The presentwriter possessesa copy of the review without the pagenumber. AmericanPlays Johnson 216 an overtly sexual arena in comparison with what had gone before. Or perhaps it was a case of the older black American theatrical sister leading its younger British sibling astray or
showingher what life was really like.
For the presentwriter this productionrevealed that Talawadid not want to be seenas a
staunchblack theatrecompany performing black productionsthat were aimedat an
aspiringblack middle classaudience that did not want to be offended.Additionally,
Talawa had dared to get its feet wet by doing an American work which whilst it had not
increasedpublic responsedid, on the whole, receivecomparatively better reviews than the
majority of Talawa's earlier productions.
All reviews from the mainstreampress found somethingpositive to say aboutTalawa's
production.Billington comments,'I'm not surehow to describeNtozake Shange'sThe
Love SpaceDemands, presented by Talawa,but it's certainly impressive.01 Bassettis
equally enthusiastic,'.. the choreographyrises to excellence(capes fluttering like
falling petalsand a sexualdeflowering powerfully symbolisedby a foot forcedthrough a
skirt).... It's an interestingartistic format rarely seenin the UK, and Talawa.are well 02 worth a look. Curtis states,'.. At9sa remarkable,lyrical experienceof live poetry.933
Additionally JeanBreeze's performance is heraldedas a successin every review.
31 Michael Bill ington, 'The Love SpaceDemands', Guardian, 7 October 1992,p. 36. 32Kate Bassett,'The Love SpaceDemands', City Limits, 15-22October 1992.See footnote 30 for explanationof missingpage reference. 33 Nick Curtis, 'The Love SpaceDemands', Independent, 7 October 1992,p. 23. AmericanPlays Johnson 217
Her performanceis describedas, 'mesmerising',34 and Gould suggests,'Jean 'Binta'
Breezemust surelybe one of the more fascinatingpeople to havegraced the stageat
Talawa's CochraneTheatre. 35 As well as the successof the performancethe rebellious natureof the work may appearto haveset a precedentas far as the company's performanceof the Americanplays is concerned.This is demonstratedin Talawa'ssecond
Americanproduction discussed below, Dr EndeshaIda Mae Holland's, From The
Mississippi Delta.
34 Anon, 'The Love SpaceDemands', Mail Sunday,II October 1992, 40. 35 on p. Helen Gould, 'Life's a breezefor Binta', Stage,I October 1992,p. 6. AmericanPlays Johnson 218
From the Mississippi Delta
BetweenI April and I May 1993Talawa presented its thirteenthproduction in total and
secondAmerican work, with its run of Dr EndeshaIda Mae Holland's, From the
MississippiDelta, at The CochraneTheatre, London and the ContactTheatre, Manchester.
In the following discussionafter a generalintroduction to the languageof From the
Mississippi Delta, the present writer offers commentary on two key areasof Talawa's
performance. Firstly, the oral language and the general performance of each actress are
discussed(in the opinion of the presentwriter basedon his viewing of the first London
performance).Secondly, the critical receptionthe show receivedfrom the media is
presented.
The languageof the script of From the Mississippi Delta like that of TheLove Space
Demandsreflects the writer's attemptto presenta form of Americanspeech that suggests
how sheintends her script to be spoken.In Holland's script this is the voice of the black
Americansouth. As seenwith all of the scriptsthat Talawahas used for performance,the
Englishin Holland's script is generallywritten in a 'standard' form. In this case'standard
AmericanEnglish' with Americanphraseology, and somesouthern American spellings.
The pronunciationof the black southis highlightedby the repeateduse of phonetic
spellingsin the text. Commonlyused are; 'Dat' for 'That', 'Dis' for 'This', 'Wit' for
'With', 'Den' for 'Then', 'bout' for 'about', 'Chilluns' for 'Children', 'Aint' for 'Aunt'.
'NaNvth'for 'North'. 'Useta' for 'Used to'. 'Wimmens' for 'Women', 'Moe' for 'More',
'Gie' for'Give, and 'Kin' for'Can'. With thesemarkers to work with Talawa can be seen AmericanPlays Johnson 219 to havebeen given a clear indication of what the voices in the productionshould sound
like.
For the presentwriter it seemsthat Talawa felt its audiencewould generallybe able to
understand the languageof From the Mississppi Delta (as set out by Holland) in
performance as no special attempt was made to change any aspect of the language. Where
difficulty may havearisen was in the useof specificregional terminology. To help its 36 audience Talawa took the step of providing a glossary in the production programme.
This stephad not beentaken with its earlierAfrican and Caribbeanproductions.
To ensureTalawa's perfon-nerswould producethe requiredspeech for the production,
voice coachingwas providedfor them.Talawa employed the servicesof dialect coach
CharmionHoare who deliveredten workshopsessions. No other Talawaproduction to
36 The productionprogramme is found in Talawa'sarchives for From the MississippiDelta - publicity file. As the glossaryis short andgives a clear indicationof someof the differencesbetween 'standard American English' speechand the languagerequired for the text the glossaryis presentedin full below: Aint Aunt BC Powderedaspirin Catching Delivering a baby Deadcat on the line Something'snot right Dropsey Catchallterm for unspecificailments Garry Porch Haints Ghosts Hog-headsouse Pork sausage Nightrider Ku Klux Klansman Outneysheet Flour sackpieces used in doorways Picking in high cotton Doingwell Pigeondrop A moneyscam See-berg Jukebox Sharpshootercasket A pine coffin, wide at the shoulders,narrowing to the feet. Shotgunhouse Housewith roomsin a straight line Slop-jar Usedat night insteadof the outhouse Snick StudentNon-violent CoordinatingCommittee Teathers, Ringworms AmericanPlays Johnson 220 datehas benefited from as much voice coaching.For the presentwriter whetherthis degreeof coachingwas necessaryis questionableas Talawa'sblack British performers I demonstrated(in Talawa's productionsdiscussed so far) that they were on the whole comfortablewith performingand ableto produceconvincing American accents. For the present writer there was no reason to suggestthat the black British performers in From Me
Mississippi Delta would show any less ability in this area of performance.
As no recordshave been kept on the precisenature of the work that was carriedout in the voice coachingsessions the presentwriter is unableto discussthe techniquesused to encouragethe performersto developthe appropriateAmerican voice. With no recordof the actresses'linguistic startingpoint either,their developmentin this areais immeasurable.The work of eachperformer can however,be discussedby commentingon the end result.
It shouldbe noted firstly however,that althoughthe presentdiscussion concerns Talawa's productionit was becauseof the languageof her script that Holland encounteredproblems in putting on the production in America.Horwitz points out that Dr Holland's work 'Did not fare well with severalwell-known black actresses',37 and quotesHolland, 'They refusedto evenconsider the playbecause of theblack dialect, they did not wantto be 38 identified with it., For the presentwriter this would appearto suggestthat particular
'black accents'used in performancein America carry a certainstigma with them and may guideand perhapscontrol a black perfon-ner'scareer.
37Simi Horwitz, 'From Prostituteto Playwright:The Life And Times Of Dr. EndeshaIda Mae Holland', TheatreWeek, 16-22 March 1992,p. 24 - 28. AmericanPlays Johnson 221
This canbe seento be the casein America wherethe pinnacleof performancesuccess may be measuredby a performer'snotoriety in Hollywood's film industry.The absenceof black performersin Hollywood may attestto the suggestionthat black performersaiming to get theremay be held back by the black rolesthat they play, and by extensionthe languagethat they use in their early work. The work of Hollywood's most celebrated contemporaryblack performersillustrates that wherea black performeris usedfor a
Hollywood film it is rarely becausethey are simply the bestperformer for a part that could be playedby a performerof any colour. The fact that they are black is often relevantto the role and casting.39 This may discourageblack performerswho wish to work in the mainstream(and not play specifically 'black' roles)to steeraway from work that uses such'black accents'or black characterisationthat they feel may later affect the work that they get.
In Britain a parallel may be drawn with what the presentwriter seesas the potential theatricalmarginalisation of black British performers.Once seen in black work using a
'black voice' black actorsin Britain may run the risk of being seenas black actorsonly suitablefor suchroles, ratherthan as an actor who appearedin a particularproduction.
38 Ibid. 39See the following sitesthat highlight the work of black Americanperformers who havemade numerous films in Hollywood. Despitetheir successthe majority of roles for eachperformer are black roles: httl2://sci fi movies.about. com/movies/sci fit movies/] ibrajýý/bl si ackson. htm? terms=Samuel +L+Jackso - SamuelL Jackson Mace Windu in ThePhantom Menace 03/04/01 .... - http://www. p, eocites. com/HollMood/Set/2608/slibio. htmi - Biographyof SamuelL Jackson- 03/04/01 http://www. us. imbd. comName? Bassett. +Anp, ela - Angela Bassett- 03/04/01 http://mrshowbiz. go. com/people/iadapinkettsmith/content/credits. html - JadaPinkett Smith: Credits- 03/04/01 http://mrshowbiz. go-com/people/jadal2inkettsmith/contentibio. htm] - JadaPinkett Smith - 03/04/01 http://mrshowbiz, Ro-com-/. people/willsmith/content/credits. html - Will Smith: Credits - 03/04/01 http://mrshowbiz-go-com/peol2le/wesleysnil2es/content/credits. html - WesleySnipes: Credits - 03/04/01 httl2:Hmrshowbiz. izo. com/people/cubap-oodingjr/content/credits. html - CubaGooding Jr.: Credits- 03/04/01 AmericanPlays Johnson 222
Thereis perhapsless stigma however, carried with the Americanvoice for the black
British performer as its sound is not representative of any area of British society.
For the presentwriter much of the power of Talawa's performanceof From TheMississipi
Delta, comesfrom the a cappellavoices of the three performers,who swop roles throughoutthe pieceto recountthe life experiencesof Dr EndeshaIda Mae Holland.
Throughoutthe performance,it is generallyPauline Black who playsthe part of Aint
Baby, Dr Endesha Ida Mae's mother. The present writer recalls Black's opening night performanceas being outstandinggenerally but more specificallyso for its linguistic accuracy.Black, perhapsmost famousfor being the lead singerin her British chart topping groupSelecter (1979-198 1) was able to entirely removeall oral signsthat may havepointed to any non-southemAmerican accent she may haveused in previouswork or to her own personality.The quality of Black's languagework can be partly explainedby
her generalunassuming attitude to developinga character.In relationto creating
Caribbeanroles Black points out:
BecauseI don't havethat tradition of the Caribbean,have not
grown up in a WestIndian family when I do a WestIndian play
I haveto approachthat play afreshas I would if I were trying to
be a Russianin a Chekhovplay. 40
40 RolandRees, Fringe First: PioneersofFringe Theatreon Record(London: OberonBooks Limited, 1992),p. 143. American Plays Johnson 223
As Black did not havethe tradition of the deepsouth when shewas growingup it is
probablethat shetook the aboveapproach in the creationof her charactersin From the
MississippiDelta alongwith benefitingfrom the voice coachingsessions. Black's accurate
useof Americanlanguage once again serves to highlight the verbal repertoireof Talawa's
black British performersin this area.As Black's naturalspeaking voice is recognisablefor
its lack of 'black influence', and her singingvoice for its uniquequality, her American
accentin Talawa'sproduction may appearall the more impressiveas it hasno link with
the voices that sheis known for.
In light of the talent Black displaysthroughout her performancethe presentwriter
questionswhy Black is not a major theatricalplayer in mainstreamBritish theatre. It is
possibleto suggestthat this may in part be becauseof her colour. PerhapsBlack is
perceivedto be inappropriatefor leadinglady roles as they are still not generallyplayed by
black or mixed raceactresses in the British theatricalmainstream. Another possibility is
that Black could be consideredto be too light skinnedwhere directorsare looking for a
black actressfor a part. Black's stancein aiming not to marginaliseherself by doing a
rangeof work and not only work that is black culture specific, along with the fact that she
is not preparedto acceptevery part that sheis offered to her, may also have contributedto
her being seenless in mainstreamacting roles than her talent deserves:
I like the piecebecause it givesa very positive imageof black
people.As long as thereare plays aroundlike this I will want AmericanPlays Johnson 224
41 to do more.
For the presentwriter it is importantto highlight that Black can be seenhere to be taking
what maybe regardedas an 'unavoidable'political stance.She is automaticallypolitical
by the fact that she is a mixed raceactress who carefully choosesher roles.It would
appearthat Black feels the work shedoes has an impacton wider black societyand that
shefeels she has a responsibilitynot to contributeto any negativeportrayals. Talawa's
productioncan be seento haveprovided Black with the opportunityto further exhibit her
talent as well as createa positive role for Talawa'sblack audiencein the strongfemale
role model shepresent in Aint Baby.
After Black's introductionto the protagonistTalawa's audienceis further introducedto
her as an eleven-yearold throughthe performanceof black British actressJoy Richardson.
Whilst the audienceis suckedinto the deepblack souththrough the voice work of Pauline
Black it is propelledback to black London throughwhat the presentwriter regardsas
Richardson'sless successful attempts at the samesound.
In contrastto the work of Black, Richardson'soverall performanceimmediately loses
credibility becauseof her waveringaccent and the feeling that she is strugglingto
maintaina semblanceof the correct sound.This differencein oral performancecauses a
constantmovement from the theatricalreality createdby the performerswho get the voice
right, to the theatrical lack of authenticityof the sameworld highlightedby Richardson's
"'Michael Owen,'America, Japan -and Kilbum', EveningStandard, 2 April 1993,p. 26. AmericanPlays Johnson 225 inaccuratelinguistic work. In spite of this Richardsonis given due credit for her performance:
Joy Richardsonwas able to turn a nastycough into a character,
but didn't quite capturethe Southerndialect. 42
Whilst the productioncan be seento be goodexperience for Richardson,for the present writer she is perhaps placed in an unfortunate position between two of Britain's leading black actresses.Her lack of linguistic precisionmay be moreobviously seenas such,due to the expertiseof her fellow performers.Where Hines is ableto appreciatethe rest of
Richardson'sperformance in spite of her voice work, for the presentwriter the
performanceis difficult to value as so much of the character'sbeing is linked to the
specificity of her oral expression.This is missingin Richardson'sperformance.
Consequently,the non-oralaspects of Richardson'sacting may becomemore difficult to
identify as 'credible' as they are overshadowedby her lack of linguistic accuracy.
Richardsoncan be seenhere to have the burdenof accurateblack theatricalrepresentation
on her. The presentwriter suggeststhat the youngperformer could reasonablybe allowed
to benefit from her early performancework by concentratingon honing her craft. This
'luxury' can be seenat leastin part to be takenaway from her as she is black and the lack
of regularitywith which black performersare seenon the British stagein leadingroles is
rare.Richardson then becomesa representativeof the widest body of the black British
42 WinsomeHines, 'From the Mississippi Delta', Voice,20 April 1993,p. 27. AmericanPlays Johnson 226 public eachtime sheperforms. The consequencesof any misrepresentationin her performancecould meanthat her work is usedto negativelylabel both herselfand Talawa.
Of the threeactresses in Talawa's productiononly Richardsonhad benefitedfrom British
Dramaschool training. 43 The fact that shehad most difficulty producingthe American accent despite three years of training points to the role that Talawa is playing in developingblack British performersby offering them a professionalplatform to work in.
Additionally questions may be asked as to the relevance of Richardson's training in relation to her professionalacting career.
After Richardson'sfirst appearancethe fact that her efforts are sandwichedin betweentwo outstandingperformers is highlightedby the appearanceof JosetteBushell-Mingo who explainshow Aint Baby becamethe secondlady doctor. With eachrole Mingo adoptsand the rangeof voicesshe uses for her varied charactersher Americanaccent is consistently credible.Whilst there is no availableresearch on the techniquesthat Mingo usedto get into characterwhat is evident from her performanceis that, whethercentre stage or incidental,Mingo had developedan in depthunderstanding of her characterboth in and outsideof the context of the play. Like Black, Mingo demonstratedher verbal repertoire by heraccurate American accent. She was able to revealher verbal repertoire further by exhibiting a rangeof Americanvoices throughout the production.It is perhapsbecause of this ability to adoptvarious characterswith easily identifiable voicesthat Mingo took on the majority of, and the most contrastingroles in Talawa's production. AmericanPlays Johnson 227
Talawa's audience see Mingo perform almost every character that features in Aint Baby's life, as well as Aint Baby herself. Mingo, who plays a variety of male characters throughoutthe performanceportrays the drunk mournerat Aint Baby's funeral.
From the unexaggerateddeep voice that sheuses and the dodderinghooked stance she adoptsfor her characterthe audienceare immediatelyable to define the obviousouter characteristicsof this man. Mingo's performanceof his incomprehensiblespeech and total drunkennesswhich causeshim to fall into Aint baby's grave,steal the attentionfrom anything else that is happening on the stage.
For the presentwriter Mingo, like her co-pprformerBlack, demonstratesa uniqueability to capturethe audience.Despite the fact that manyof the male character'sMingo plays can be seento be negativebecause of their involvementwith drugsand crime, the accuracyof Mingo's oral and physicalperformance generally focuses the audienceon the
immediatemessage that Holland is giving throughher characterrather than stoking anger at seeingblack men portrayedin a negativeway. Often Mingo's portrayaluses their tragedyto provide comedy.Mingo showsthis particularly with the drunkenold manwho blurs his reality with alcohol. The tragedythat he hasturned to alcohol although understoodis lessenedby Mingo's comic presentationof his faltering speechand stance.
Whilst highlighting his tragedy,Mingo's drunk old man becomesendearing to Talawa's
audiencethrough her comic approach.For the presentwriter it is also possiblethat the fact
Mingo is a woman may be seento removeTalawa's audiencefrom someof the tragedyof
the male charactersshe presents. This is becauseMingo's skill as a performermay become
43 Joy Richardsontrained at WebberDouglas Drama School. AmericanPlays Johnson 228 as equal an aspect of Talawa's audience's appreciation (after her scenes)as the despair of the situation that she has performed.
This type of praisefor the performersand the productiongenerally is not the sole opinion of the presentwriter. This is demonstratedby the fact that Talawa'sproduction under
Castledine'sdirection receivednominations for the ManchesterEvening News awardfor
Best Production along with nominations for Best Actress for both Pauline Black and
JosetteBushell-Mingo. Mingo won the award. Additionally, every review of the productionwas positive marking the pieceas one of Talawa's major successes:44
This, I would ventureto say is the play which and the production
that shouldat last put Yvonne Brewster'sCochrane theatre on the map.
And:
This is not just a play for theseperformers it is also abouttheir lives
and when they inhabit Ida Mae's world as they do here,they are
by it. transformed So too, are we. An eventnot to be missed- and this
time I really meanit. 45
For the presentwriter the first part of Woddis's commentis importantbecause of its suggestionthat the mainstreamhad beenwaiting for Talawa,to prove itself. The fact that
44 For the presentdiscussion a selectionof reviewsarc usedto illustrate the point. AmericanPlays Johnson 229 the performanceshe regards as the one to havemade the differenceis Americanmay suggestthat Talawais well suitedto this kind of work or illustratethat the mainstreamhad not understood,or perhapswas not as interestedin Talawa'sAfrican and Caribbean productions.
The secondpart of her commentmay havemeant more than sheintended due to the insecurity that Talawa was facing at this stage with the question of the renewal of its lease andthe company'scontinued residency at The Cochrane.The presentwriter suggeststhat perhapsBrewster's decision to performFrom the MississippiDelia at this point with this specificcombination of actresseswas aimed at remindingthe funding bodiesand a wider theatricalpublic that Talawa's productionscan be at leastas goodas its white mainstream counterparts.
StaffordCharles contributes to the positive reviews commenting:
This is a productionwhich can only go to strengthenthe
alreadyexcellent and deservedreputation which Talawaholds. 46
And McLauchlanadds:
I will say that if you nevergo to the theatre,see this anyway;
if you can't afford it, saveup; and if you haven't got the time,
45Carole Woddis, 'Joyful Blues: FromThe Mississippi Delta, Cochrane',What's on in London, 14-21April 1993,p. 47. AmericanPlays Johnson 230
cancelsomething else. 47
Whilst the strengthof the last recommendationmay appearto be exaggeratedby its enthusiasmit gives a clear indication of the impactthat Talawa's performancehad on the theatre critics. For the present writer it is significant that McLauchlan's comment is interestinglybacked in almost identical languageby Morgan as it suggeststhat this view was not uncommon at the time, 'Even if you are not a regular theatre-goer, you must make
48 an exceptionfor this latestTalawa Theatre production. , Morgan continuesher support for the production:
The . threeactresses give a passionateperformance of each
phaseof Holland's life and throw themselvesinto their roles
with jubilation and completededication. Their individual strengths
and talentswork in perfectbalance and the productionflows with
49 a naturalease.
For the presentwriter what is clear from the abovereviews is the fact that acrossa full rangeof critics the threeblack British femaleperformers were given solid recognitionfor the artistic quality of their work. Being recognisedin this way can be seento senda clear and positive messageto black theatrepractitioners that wider British theatreaccepts some kinds of Vack British theatrein its mainstream:
46Louise Stafford Charles,'Through Life's CompellingJourney', Stage, 6 May 1993,p. 11. 47Deborah McLauchlan, 'From the Mississippi Delta', City Life Manchester,12 May 1993,p. 37. 48joy Morgan,'From the Mississippi 49 Delta', WeeklyJournal, 15 April 1993,p. 11. Wd. AmericanPlays Johnson 231
Just when thereseems to be too muchto be told in too little time,
when the sheernumber of charactersruns the risk of incoherence
the threadis alwayspicked up by the extraordinaryperformances
50 of PaulineBlack, JosetteBushell Mingo and Joy Richardson.
It canbe saidthen that the two American productionsthat Talawahad performedup until this point received the best reception from the critics. The positive responseto these works may also suggestthat the issuesand language of Talawa's other styles of work, whilst servingan importantpurpose, were not perhapsas appealingto modemblack British audiencesor theatrecritics as may havebeen previously perceived. The fact that the mainstreamtheatre critics were all positive in their appreciationof the show in a way that did not occurwith any of the Caribbeanor African productionsmerits further discussion that generallygoes beyond the limits of the presentthesis. For the presentwriter it should be notedhere however, that it may be that the more favourablereviews were a result of the critics havinga better understandingof the genreas American culture hasa firm placeon
British television. Another possibility is that on a linguistic level the critics found the play easierto understand.Perhaps the critics consideredthe performersto be acting ratherthan copyingthe voices of their parentsas they may havebeen perceived to be doing in the
Caribbeanand African plays. Or maybethe critics simply felt that they were able to write
freely becausethe work was Americanand did not belong(culturally) to Talawa. Whilst it
is not possiblefor the presentwriter to answerthese questions it is importantthat they are
raisedto point to someof the issuesthat may influence mainstreamwriting on black art. AmericanPlays Johnson 232
be designed Finally, Talawa's production through Holland's earthy tale can be seento to
shockas Holland herselfappears to intend to by the way sheintroduces herself to new
studentsat the start of eachacademic semester:
I'm from Greenwood Mississippi.
I'm an ex-whoreand an ex-thief.
My mama ran the whorehouse.
51 My brotherswere two town drunks.
Prior to the Americanplays Talawa can be said neverto havepresented work to its
audiencewith an intendedshock value. Whilst someof the issuespresented in From the
MississippiDelta may appearshocking this was not Talawa's reasonfor doing the play:
This is a good play and will entertainour audiencewhilst
giving someinsight into an interestingblack American life
lives be interesting 52 people's can ...
Along with the interestinglife that the show presentedthe overt discussionof sex and
violence and the plight of blacks attemptingto take a fighting stanceagainst white
Americansociety, gave Talawa (at leastmomentarily) a more feisty and politically
militant identity than many of the Caribbeanplays can be seento havedone. Although the
productionreflected the black situation in America the responseto the show suggeststhat
50Helen Adkins, 'SweetHumour Out Of Bitter Horrors', Tribune, 16 April 1993,p-9. 51Horwitz, 'From prostituteto Playwright', p.28. AmericanPlays Johnson 233
Talawa was correct to believe that black British theatre was an appropriate forum for this straightforwardlanguage and the political issuesthe play presented.
For the presentwriter Talawa's successin this production demonstratesthe company's determinationto take risks and move black theatreinto the mainstreamand forefront of theatrein Britain. In Simi Horwitz's article cited above,Dr Holland states,'When I was growingup I nevereven knew a black personhad ever written a book.' 53For many black
BritonsTalawa is the first they will seeof establishedblack theatre.Talawa's ever- forwardmoving work, perhapspartly epitomisedby the performanceof the American plays,may encourage the growth of other black theatrecompanies in Britain to develop their own work and relevantcontemporary voice. This will slowly erodethe possibility of
British blacksbeing able to ever remembera time when quality black theatredid not exist in Britain.
52 Interviewwith Yvonne Brewsterby David Johnson,Talawa oftices London,26 April 1996. 53 Horwitz, 'From prostituteto Playwright, p.27. AmericanPlays Johnson 234
Flyin' West
Talawa'sthird Americanplay and twenty-third productionin total was the company's performanceof PearleCleage's Flyin' West.Directed by Yvonne Brewsterthe play ran from 5 to 28 June 1997at The Drill Hall, London. Set in the all black town of Nicodemus
Kansas in the autumn of 1898 the play tells a story of black pioneer life on the western frontier. The following discussion firstly examines the process of the present writer in producing the researchpackage for the production as Pre-Production Researcher
(including his understandingof Brewster'sintentions in doing the production),and the company'sresponse to the researchpackage. Secondly, the mediaresponse to the productionand the presentwriter's commentson Talawa's performanceof the show on 28
June 1997are presented.
Having researchedthe creativeprocess of Talawa's castand Artistic Director as
PerformanceResearcher for the productionof Beefno Chickenthe presentwriter had notedwhat appearedto be a lack of textual experienceamongst the cast.This was demonstratedboth by a lack of textual backgroundknowledge and context,as well as (in somecases) a lack of understandingof the text itself. This may havebeen related to the
Caribbeangenre of the work and the fact that most actorsin training do not encounterthis
kind of work in British drarnaschools. As it was not clear whetherthese difficulties
stemmedfrom a lack of training/experienceit could be arguedthat theseblack British
actorswho may not havebeen getting regular textual exposureneeded further
developmentin this area.As the castof Beefno Chickenhad respondedpositively to
Brewster'sexplanations of the backgroundto the text and the text itself, the presentwriter AmericanPlays Johnson 235 felt the castof Flyin' West,given similar backgroundexplanations and information in a written format may seethis as beneficialto their work.
As can be seenfrom the programmeinformation for all Talawaproductions, the company can be seento havea body of regularactors. The presentwriter estimatedthen that at least someof the castfor Flyin' Westwould haveworked with Talawabefore and that an opportunity to work with understanding the text in a new way may benefit and be welcomedby the castand Artistic Director.54 To this end he suggestedthat the castbe given a researchpackage along with their script prior to rehearsals.
The presentwriter arguedthat in order to producea thoroughand relevantresearch packagethis importantaspect of the Artistic Director's work shouldbe left entirely in the researcher'shands. This would preventany overlappingas the Artistic Director would not needto conductany work in this areaand would also oblige the researcherto cover all relevantthemes.
From the presentwriter's perspectivethis was shownnot to be an issuefor Brewsterwho handedover this part of her work without questioningor advisingthe presentwriter on how to go aboutor presentthe researchpackage. This in turn led the presentwriter to understandthat he would be freeto reachhis own conclusionson whatkind of research packagewould be most beneficial to Brewsterand her cast.He would be able assessthis
after the initial stagesof the pre-productionresearch process.
54Of the six castmembers only two had not workedwith Talawa before: SyanBlake as Minnie and Angie Le Mar as Fanny. AmericanPlays Johnson 236
The pre-productionresearch process began with a generalmeeting between Brewster and the presentwriter on I March 1997to discussthe themesin the play alongwith Brewster's vision of how shefelt someof the play's issueswould impacton Talawa's audience.The meetingalso servedfor the presentwriter to gain a senseof Brewster'sunderstanding of the play and the enthusiasmthat shehad for it. It seemedthat Brewster'smain concern was that her audienceshould see the strengthof the four black femaleprotagonists:
Whenblack peoplehere complain about how hard life is
they don't know what they're talking about.These women
had to do everythingmen did and still find time to raisetheir
familieS.55
In this light Brewstercan be seento be intentionally using theatreboth didacticallyand politically. Whilst her commentdoes not appearto be intendedto incite rebellion thereis an intention to encourageblack women in Britain to seethemselves as peoplewho areable to work with and improve any situation that they may find themselvesin. Whilst the presentwriter agreeswith Brewster's intention it is importantto commentbriefly on the kind of criticism that could be levelled at Talawa for working with a text that is perhaps blinkeredby its main theme.
The ideaof aiming at a specific group within the black communitythrough this text could
be seento encouragedivisions within the very communityit setsout to empower.For the
presentwriter this is demonstratedby the way the play and by extensionTalawa's AmericanPlays Johnson 237 performanceof it, can be seento draw black menand womenagainst each other. Black men featurelittle in the play. Whenthey do they can be seento be starkstereotypes. Wil, playedby David Webberin Talawa's production,is drawn as passiveand shy whilst the otherblack man,the wife-beaterFrank, played by Ben Thomasdoes not appearto havea single redeeming feature. Focus here does not appear to be concerned with the representationof the characteras a black man but ratheron how the black womenare able to deal with him. The present writer questions whether Talawa's performance of Flyin'
Westwas the best way to meet Brewster's intention expressedabove.
In addition to exploringthe plight of the black pioneerfrontier womenthere are a number of additionalareas of black interestthat Cleage'splay raisedand that the presentwriter felt could be further exploredas part of the backgroundto the play in the research package.56 Before decidingon which areasof the play would be further studiedfor
inclusionin the researchpackage the presentwriter developedthe following generalaim
for his work:
55Interview with Yvonne Brewsterby David Johnson,Talawa offices London, I March 1997. 56Potential areas for relevantresearch for Flyin' West: 0 The AmericanCivil War (1861-1865) 0 The HomesteadAct of 1860 0 1892Tennessee lynching and riots 0 Exodusof 1897migration to Kansas 0 Life in Nicodemus,Kansas, 1898 0 Land laws of the time and farmers' federations e Jim Crow Laws Black cowboysand farmers " The lives of thosewho experiencedboth slaveryand freedom " Views of mulatto life " Imagesof black men " Male insecuritydue to lack of financial resources " Womenand politics " Physicalabuse as sufferedby women " Slavery,children and child bearing " White land speculators AmericanPlays Johnson 239
To produce a researchpackage on Flyin' Westthat would
inform Talawa's cast of all the necessaryinformation that the
performerswould needto fully understandthe text. Additionally,
the researchpackage would aim to supportTalawa's missionstatement.
This would be achievedby developinga tripartite researchpackage that:
* Providedstructured and comprehensive,general, historical and cultural informationon
the backgroundof Flyin' Westthat would meanthe performerswould not needto do
any additional researchfor the piece.
Ensuredthe particularaspects of black history that were presentedin the play were
exploredand presentedto enhancethe active building of heritagefacts.
Would encouragefurther explorationof the issuespresented and that would point
thosewho wantedto in the direction of how to find out more.
Working from this basisthe presentwriter was then able to define the specific subject
areasthat would be usedin the researchpackage. 57
0 Oral story telling 57The research package is outlined below: Introduction: Explanation of the contents. p. ii Outline of the play. p.iii Section One: The American Civil Wa iv . p. Although the action of the play starts in 1899 the present writer felt that the research package should look briefly over the proceeding century to understand the events which lead up to, as well as the events which AmericanPlays Johnson 239
It can be shown that the possible range of reasonsfor Talawa's decision to perform Flyin'
Westwere many.For the Afro/Caribbeanand black British performersworking on a black
Americantext (aswith the African and Caribbeanplays producedby Talawa)the performeris ableto benefit from a theatricalexperience that s/hemay not otherwiseget on the British stage. For the black British audience the work may expand their viewing repertoire.Additionally, performingthe play would enableTalawa's audienceto become occurred during and immediately after the American Civil war. The key role that slavery played in the war is highlighted as it demonstratesthe differing opinions of the northern and southern colonies of the United States (formed in 1783) on this issue. The American Constitution. pp. iv-vi. Changesto the American constitution after the Civil War that helped the advancement of blacks are outlined. The Farmers Alliance. pp.vii-ix This section deals with how white farmers formed the Alliance in 1877 to work together and protect themselves on their land and how as the Alliance spread across the country it included more and more black farmers as well as a Coloured Farmers Alliance in the south. Section Two: Black Life In The West. pp.x-xi. General. This note points to the notion of the American dream being based on the idea of owning land and how black people played a crucial and often unacknowledged role in the development of America generally and the west in particular. The Homesteaders.pp. xii-xiv. This discussesthe two main factors that encouraged black people to go west: I. The flomestead Act of 1860. This offered 320 acres of land to U. S. citizens prepared to settle in the west. 2. White supremacy in the south which led to the Exodus of 1879 and saw twenty to forty thousand blacks migrate to Kansas in the hope of owning their own homes and land. Black Laws. pp.xv-xvi. As black people were considered to be workhorses the laws that existed tended to work against them as is shown by the laws highlighted in this section. The Black Cowboys and leading Frontier Personalities. pp.xvi-xxi. The lives of the most sensational black characters from the west are detailed providing images of the personalities mentioned. The Black Infantry and Caval! y. pp. xxi-xxii. This section highlights the achievements of the black infantry and cavalry. The information would also help the actors to acknowledge that whilst Flyin West celebrates the extraordinary achievements of black women, black men were also making their contribution to the development of the western frontier. Black Women On The Last Frontier. Ilere a chapter of Katz's text is used to demonstrate the achievements of black women in the west. See: William Loren Katz, The Black West (New York: Open fland Publishing, 1987), pp.280-303. Biblioamphy. p.xxiv. The additional written material added to the package was made up of two pieces of writing: I. Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United Statesfrom 1492 to thepresent (London: Longman, 1996), pp. 167-205. Chapter 9'Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom'. 2.David Mauk and John Oakland, American Civilisation (London and New York: Routledge, 1995), pp-46- 50. A discussion of life in the west. AmericanPlays Johnson 240 familiar with a lesser-known black American female playwright. Whilst the above are the suggestionsof the present writer Brewster's intentions in doing the play are equally varied.
As mentionedabove Brewster's central focus appearedto be to highlight the strengthof the pioneerblack womenof the west. In addition to this Brewster(in keepingwith the
company1) s mission statement) showed a concern for her cast and audience to learn the
heritagefacts that are revealedin the play and hopedthat they would be motivatedby
S8 them. To this end Brewsterasked everyone involved with the productionto commenton
the impactworking on the productionhad on them. This informationwas then usedin the
publicity programme.For the presentwriter there is a suggestion,that as Brewstertook
this unprecedentedstep she perhaps felt that in termsof giving heritagefacts Cleage'splay
did this more than someother Talawaproductions:
it hasallowed us to explore creatively so manyaspects
of undcr-recordedBlack history, attitudesand taboosas they
existed in the 19'hCentury. It also highlighted the relevanceof
theseissues here in Britain hundred later 59 multicultural a years ...
The perfon-nersand the productioncrew felt that the work had given them the opportunity
to learnabout and discussthe specific heritagefacts presentedin the play along with
In additionto the two essaysattached to the end of the packagea bibliographyof easyto accesstexts is r, ovidedto encouragefurther personalresearch on the subject. 8 Interviewwith Yvonne Brewsterby David Johnson,Talawa offices London, I March 1997. 59Brewster, productionprogramme of Flyin' West,p. 7. SeeTalawa productionarchives for Flyin' West- publicity file. AmericanPlays Johnson 241 giving them the opportunity to discuss other heritage facts more generally. The nature of the work as managedby Talawa can be seento have fosteredan environmentwhere the teamwanted to shareother piecesof heritageinformation. 60
Of the actors' comments that appeared in the production programme David Webber's was uniquefor the presentwriter:
Flyin' Westoffers a powerful messageof hope for Africans
everywhere.The sight of two strongand successfulBlack people,
so clearly in love is almostrevolutionary in today's theatre.I am
delightedand absolutelythrilled to be part of it. PearlCleage clearly
lovesour peopleand managesto show how awesomewe can be and
that the tremendousbonds of sisterhoodcomplement and enhancethe
Black man.Let us celebrate.One love.61
Webber'sresponse reflects the inclusivenessthat he appearsto seein the play. He was able to extract from it and his experienceof performing in it that therewere good things being demonstratedabout black men.This, alongwith his notion that the strengthof the femalerelationships in the play is also beneficialto black men shouldbe takenwithin the contextof the characterthat he plays.
60 Interview with Yvonne Brewsterby David Johnson,Talawa offices London, 12 June 1997. 61David Webber(Wil), productionprogramme of Flyin' West,p. 8. SeeTalawa production archives for Flyin' West- publicity file. AmericanPlays Johnson 242
ThroughWebber's performance Talawa's audiencesee how Wil is broughtinto the sisters'fold oncethey perceivehim to be entirely harmlessand on their side. He is welcomedas part of the family. On the other hand,the sistersdeal with the perceived threateningbehaviour of the other black man,Thomas's Frank, by killing him. Webber's commentappears to ignorethis. Perhapspart of Webber'senthusiasm was due to the fact that he was given the opportunityto play what may be seenas the antithesisof the negativestereotype of the black man. It is also possiblethat Webberdid not seeThomas's characteras an entirely black man due to his mixed raceheritage, and thereforewas less concernedabout his representation.
Commentson the impact of the show were not the sole privilege of the castand
productioncrew but were also welcomedfrom Talawa's administrativeteam. These
contributionswere printed in the productionprogramme alongside the others.Through
theseefforts Brewstercan be seento haveused the play to get a documentedresponse
from thosewho were involved in the productionat all levels.For the presentwriter two
commentsfrom membersof the administrativeteam highlight the degreeto which the play
had impactedon them and possiblyby extensionthose members of the black British
audiencewho could relateto the reasonsfor the impact:
As much as Medievaljousting, Gothic Architectureand the
six wives of Henry VIII interestedme as a child, it was never
goingto answera numberof naggingquestions. Questions like,
'why am I the only black face in this classroom','why do schools AmericanPlays Johnson 243
only teachthe slaveryaspect of Black history' and 'why do they
keep putting me in the football team'. I learned as I went along.
A strongsense of origin and purposehelped. The understanding
processwould have beenaided if the other children in that
classroomcould havetaken home something positive about my
heritage.Flyin' Westredresses this andwill light the touch-paper
to the further learning of our roots and culture.62
For the presentwriter Brewster'sefforts to encourageher teamto discussthe issuesin
Flyin' Westcan be seento haveprovided some of the kind of informationthat would have
helpedDesire with those'nagging childhood questions'.Desire's notion that this kind of
informationwould havebeen beneficial to his white classmatespoints to the all inclusive
sharingof cultural information that needsto occur if peopleliving in a culturally diverse
societyare to fully understandeach other. The fact that Desirewas ableto voice his
opinion in this forum in addition to making his voice heardalso createdthe possibility for
otheryoung black peoplein Talawa's audienceto seethat their experiencesare not
unique.Knowing this could help them to feel lessisolated.
For Talawa'ssecretary/administrative support worker Sonji Clayton:
Flyin' Westis about knowledge, 'overstanding',fear
and finally gaining the truth, a test of strengththat four
strongblack women,pass with Flyin' colours.63 AmericanPlays Johnson 244
As a black British womanClayton was able (as Brewsterhad intended)to draw inspiration from the life achievementsof the charactersin the playý`iClayton's stated understanding that the play is aboutknowledge suggests that shefelt shewas ableto benefit from the heritagefacts from within the work. Clayton had however,demonstrated a yearningfor knowing more heritagefacts relevantto her from the outsetof Talawa'swork on Flyin'
West.When the presentwriter presentedthe researchpackage to TalawaClayton requesteda personal copy commenting, 'I want to be able to study this and have
I back friends. 63The suggests something that can refer to ... and show my present writer
that had Clayton experiencedmore of this kind of informationthroughout her upbringing
in Englandthe researchpackage may havebeen less important to her.
As therewas no processof monitoring audiencereaction to the programmeput in placeit
is not known if audiencesgenerally felt that they benefitedfrom information suppliedby
the teamon how the showhad impactedon them. The fact that Brewsterhad chosenthis
methodof encouragingthe teamto expresstheir views meantthat the audiencecould be
influencedby theseimpressions before seeing the show. It is not the presentwriter's belief
however,that shehad aimedat eliciting a specific reactionfrom the audiencebefore they
had seenthe show.The presentwriter suggeststhat Brewsterhad intendedto makeher
62Alf Desire,Marketing Off icer for Talawa,production programme of Flyin' West.p. 8. 63 Sonji Clayton,Secretary/Administrative support for Talawa,production programme of Flyin' West,p. 8. 64 Brewster'sintention can also be seento havebeen successful by the commentsmade by someof the actresses: Anni Domingo(MissLeah) comments in the productionprogramme. p. 7, Tlyin' Westhas certainlybeen an informativeand joyousjourney into the world of sisterhood.It hashelped me rememberand celebratethe strength,tenacity and love of Black womenthrough the ages.' Angie Le Mar (Fannie)comments in the productionprogramme, p. 8, 'When you know what hashappened you realisethat Black women andtheir experiencesshould be applaudedand cherished.I questionwhen will the backboneto the Black raceever rest! Only in peace. Colouredto black no changes.' 65 -still Sonji Claytonto David Johnson,Talawa offices London, 12 April 1997. AmericanPlays Johnson 245 productionprogramme as interestingas possibleby incorporatingan original and cast- wide personaltouch that would createinterest for the production.
By choosingto do the productionand actively encouragingthe processof discussingthe impactof the show and additionalblack heritagefacts, Brewster can be seento have intendedthat all thosewho cameinto contactwith Talawa's productionwould gain some form of heritageinformation. Brewster's approach also demonstrateshow effectively heritagefacts can be disseminatedthrough the theatreforum. For the presentwriter in the caseof Flyin' Westthis can be seento havebeen partly facilitated by the research package.
As recordinga detailedresponse to the researchpackage had not beenundertaken the
informationthat follows shouldbe seenas the presentwriter's suggestionsbased on what
he was able to deduceas reactionsto the researchpackage. These responses are divided
into two groups.The first looks at the responsesof the Artistic Director whilst the second
discussesthose of the performers.
The presentwriter was able to monitor Brewster's initial responseto the packagethrough 66 the direct feedbackthat shegave to him. Her initial reactionof taking the packageto the
administrativeteam and sharingits contentsas an exampleof what sheconsidered to be
goodwork highlightedto the presentwriter that Brewsterhad maintainedher confidence
in the work of the researcherwithout readingit. Bearing in mind the comparativeyouth
66The presentwriter was contractedto work on the researchpackage between I March 1997and II April 1997. AmericanPlays Johnson 246
and experienceof the administrative team and the researcherto Brewster, her reaction can
be seenas intentionallymotivating a new generationof black theatreworkers. This would
perhapsencourage more work.
OnceBrewster had readthe researchpackage it becameclear to the presentwriter that she
had beensupplied with more informationthan shehad expectedor neededfor the
production. This was partly demonstratedby the fact that she took the decision to use as
much of it as possible in the production programme (information that could not be used in
the production)by dedicatingthree pages to heritagefacts takenfrom the research
package.By offering the informationto Talawa's audiencein this way and by not keeping
it solely for the performersfor whom it was initially intended,Brewster had found a
further meansfor the disseminationof the heritagefacts.
Available in this way thesepages of heritagefacts would possibly impacton the audience
beforethey sawthe show perhapseven more so than the abovecomments from the
performers.This is suggestedas the cold factsmay havehad more impactthan the more
personalinformation found in the performers'comments. Equally, the fact that the work
was now in print meantthat Talawa'saudience would be able to refer to it long after the
performanceevent.
The responseto the researchpackage from the actorswas reportedback to the researcher
throughtwo sources.The first was the oral reactionas mentally recordedby Brewsterand
then passedonto the researcher.The secondwas througha later discussionbetween one of
the performersand the presentwriter. AmericanPlays Johnson 247
67 Brewsterpointed out that therehad beentwo main responsesfrom the performers. been Firstly therewere thosewho held the majority opinion that the researchpackage had of benefitto them. Secondlywas the responseof one performerwho statedthat the it packagewas of no benefitto her as shewas alreadyaware of all the information felt it contained.She was not preparedto readthrough the packagein her own time as she would be too time consumingand sheargued that time presentingthe packageto the cast
would be better spent on rehearsing the production.
This reactionsuggested to the presentwriter that perhapsthe castshould have been
surveyedbefore being given the researchpackage and askedabout their knowledgeof the
intendedcontents. Their responsesmay haveenabled the researcherto producea package
that containednew areasof knowledgefor the whole cast.
Brewster'sfeedback also pointedto the fact that the majority of the castaimed to usethe
informationin the researchpackage in two ways.Firstly, to enhancetheir practical
performance(through the deeperunderstanding that the work had affordedthem of their
characters'situation), and secondly,by using the packageto gain knowledgeof heritage
facts.A discussionof actor Ben Thomas'sexperience illustrates how he was able to put
the researchpackage to use.
Thomas,a British actor of mixed raceplaying the part of Frank,described in the text as a
light skinnedblack man (also of mixedrace), saw the researchpackage as:
67Brewster verbally passedthis information to the presentwriter throughoutthe rehearsalperiod of the show (6 May -4 June 1997). AmericanPlays Johnson 248
information helped know ... serious that me to more about 68 myself and my character.We really needto know this Stuff .
Although Thomashas a different personality,and lived in very different circumstancesto his character in Flyin'West, he had experienced emotionally comparable situations
(inducedby both black and white sectionsof British society)to thosehis character experiencesin Talawa's production. These situations tended towards a tacit suggestion that he was different. Thomas attributes these experiences to his colour.
He explainsthat althoughhe was neveraware of any hostility from the white community he lived in he was awareof their perceptionof his difference.Whilst he did not feel different he could seethat he lookeddifferent. In relation to the black communityThomas againwas not awareof any hostility towardshim and althoughas a child he had not lived amongsta black communityhe knew that he belonged(at leastin part) to it. He could see that he lookedsimilar but againwas awareof others' perceptionthat he was different.
Thomasnoted that he felt this perceptionof differencecast on him more from the black communityonce he was living in Londonwhere he felt he was seenby them to be living outsidethe black community.69
Thomasmaintains that both the play and the researchpackage however, helped him to beginto understandsome of the kind of black history that can be seento haveencouraged a divide betweenblack and mixed racepeople. He had not wantedor neededto chooseto
68 Interview with Ben Thomas by David Johnson, Talawa offices London, 8 December 1998. 69Ibid. AmericanPlays Johnson 249 be on one side or the other thoughhis formative family life experiencessaw him living happilywithin a white community.Through working on Flyin' Westand studyingthe researchpackage he could seehow this era of black history had forced peopleof mixed
raceto identify either with the black struggleor to aim to passfor white and enjoy someof the manyprivileges of that community.The black perception(as explored in Flyin' West)
that beingof mixed racewas seenas advantageouspartly explainedto Thomassome of
the difference that he felt the black community saw in him:
I think there is still a schoolof thoughtthat seeslighter skinned
black peopleas moreacceptable and that doesn't get addressed
70 very much.
As he had not beenequipped with black heritagefacts in his youngeryears gaining this
specificknowledge through his careeras a professionalactor with Talawacan be seen
then to havehelped to put someof his earlier experiencesinto a new perspective.Thomas
felt that the wider knowledgehe gainedon the American Civil War also helpedto fully
contextualiseCleage's work andthis aspectof black history:
I now knew how black peoplegot to this part of America.
None of the films that I ever saw aboutCowboys and Indians
ever includedany black people.71
70 Anon, 'Flyin' West', Attitude, June1997, p. 38. The writer quotesOscar Watson who was Talawa's Administratorat the time of the production. 71 Interviewwith Ben Thomasby David Johnson,Talawa offices London, 8 December1998. AmericanPlays Johnson 250
For black performersin Britain unlessthey are performingin a black productionit is unlikely that they will receivepositive heritagefacts as a normalpart of their stagework.
This is in stark contrastto white performerson the British stagewho are likely to receive heritagefacts from most productionsthat they are involved in. White performersalso have the luxury of being ableto enjoy the performanceof what may be seenas negative heritagefacts because there is a wealth and rangeof work for them.A white performer could enjoy the role of a demonicslave owner as he could fully explorethe character without runningthe risk of limiting his career.A black performermay not be so happyto
play the slaveas this could causehim to be type castwhere other black performersrefuse
suchparts in a bid to discontinuethe portrayalof black peoplebeing seenonly in
submissiveroles.
This pointsto the needto createmore black and colour blind work that would easethe
burdenon contemporaryblack theatrepractitioners who may feel a needto give only
positiveinformation aboutthe black characters(or communities)they portray.For the
presentwriter this type of professionalapproach to their work can partly be seenas a
reactionfrom black theatrepractitioners to the generallynegative mainstream theatrical
offeringson black life.
In termsof his role in Flyin' WestThomas can be seento have usedhis new knowledgeof
the pioneerblack womenon the westernfrontier to understandthe plight of the light
skinnedblack man he played.With this knowledgehe was able to delve deeperinto the
psycheof his character: 251 AmericanPlays Johnson
The researchpackage made it easierfor me to understandthe
motivationsof the womenaround Frank. Whilst he waited for
his inheritancefrom his white father,these women were trying
to get on with life. You can seewhy they actedthe way they did 72 when he tried to take their land away from them.
Thomas being of mixed race and playing a bad character of mixed race in Talawa's production potentially presentedthe issue of whether the role helped to continue or develop a negative stereotype. For Thomas this was not a concern as 'It is rare to see the
73 is however, bad guy being portrayed as such because he is of mixed race. , This
commonly the case for black male characters. A possible interpretation of Thomas's
imply his comment is that he feels comfortable with a range of work. This may also that
black British experiences are different and perhaps generally more positive to other darker
be actors and darker black men generally in Britain. In this regard Thomas's view can seen
to be akin to the white actors who have the luxury of playing any role without their work
appearing to be a reflection of all white men.
The reality however,is that his colour doesnot allow him this samekind of freedom.This
is reflectedin the fact that Thomas'swork in black theatrehas seenhim playing leading
maleparts in someof the most prestigiousplays of the English canon.In mainstream
theatrethis hasnot alwaysbeen his experience.For the presentwriter whilst Thomas's
talent is not in questionit is significant that mainstreamBritish theatrehas not usedhis
72 Ibid. 73 Ibid. AmericanPlays Johnson 252 ability in the same way as black British theatre. PerhapsThomas's mixed race status has beenof benefitto him in black theatrebut a disadvantagein securinghim leadingroles in the mainstream.
An additional factor in determining Thomas's performance work as demonstratedin Flyin
Westcan be seento be his voice. Thomasis able to work with Shakespeareand other
English classics with the same easeas his white counterparts. This should not be so
surprising as he was bom and raised in Britain and is an actor. Through Talawa's
productionsThomas has shown himself to be betterskilled in this areathan manyof his
black contemporariesand consequentlyhas played many of the classicalleading roles in
Talawa'srepertoire. It is also his voice however,that hascontributed to his lack of
presencein a single one of Talawa's Caribbeanproductions. Despite being half Jamaican
havinghad little exposureto this voice Thomasfeels unableto reproducethe voice with a
sufficient degreeof accuracyfor performance.74 For his performancein Flyin' West
however,he was ableto producea convincingAmerican voice having had no parentalor
cultural influencesin this area.For the presentwriter Thomas'swork indicatesthat he
cannotbe put into any hard and fast category,particularly of the type that may aim to
stereotypehim as a black male.
Whilst Thomasfelt stronglythat he had gainedon both a personaland a professionallevel
from the researchpackage the presentwriter feels someof this notion is basedon the fact
that Thomaswas opento the additional information. He had not anticipatedit would be of
74 Ibid. AmericanPlays Johnson 253 use to him on a personal level and initially only saw the packageas helping him with his
75 work.
Additionally, Thomaswas able to leam aboutthe laws of the time that actively
discriminatedagainst blacks making him questionwhat theselaws would meanto his
mixed racecharacter and by extensionhimself. The presentwriter suggeststhat Thomas's
effort was enhancedby the fact the production did not deal purely with black and white
but significantly with people of mixed race. It was about him. It is not impossible that his
responseshould be mirrored by later generationsof mixed raceperformers where a
productionspecifically highlights an aspectof their heritage.For the presentwriter this is
an areathat shouldbe addressedin black British theatreas more and more black Britons
becomemore culturally mixed but remaindefined wholly as part of the black British
community.Specific heritage facts shouldperhaps not be presentedto thoseof mixed race
as a by-productof other cultural facts as this could be to the exclusionof anotheressential
part of their being.
Althoughthe researchpackage was usedby the performersto varying degreesand heavily
usedin the publicity programmefor the productionit was usedin a limited way with the
performers.This can be demonstratedby the fact that it was briefly introducedto the cast
at their first rehearsaland handedout for them to read in their own time. The packagewas
then disassociatedwith the rest of the rehearsalprocess apart from where it was usedto
helpexplain the subtextand give further evidence (anecdotal or othenvise)of eventsin the
text.
75 Ibid. AmericanPlays Johnson 254
The presentwriter believesthat the packagecould havebeen made better use of by sendingit to the castprior to rehearsals.This would have giventhem the opportunityto questionthe packageand arrive at the first rehearsalwell informed.Additionally, running an activity basedworkshop as part of the rehearsalprocess on the issuesraised in the packageand the play could havehelped the performersto developa thoroughand rapid
understandingof the themesthat they were working on. It is importantto remember
however,that Talawahad the innovationand sawthe practicalneed for the useof sucha
researchpackage and in future may consider working with this type of information in
different ways to enhanceeach artist's performance.
The precisedegree to which the researchpackage benefited the final performanceof the
artistsin Flyin' Westis unknownas stepswere not takenfrom the outsetto measurethis
result.This is explainedby the fact that the conceptof the researchpackage had never
beendevised to measureperformance but to aid performerswith acquiringbackground
informationto their text. The performanceitself however,(and archival video recording)
standas a markerof the final product achieved.
The following discussionof Talawa's perfonnanceof Flyin' Westis divided into two parts
looking firstly, at the public responsethat the productionreceived from the critics and
secondlyat the presentwriter's commentson Talawa's performanceof the show on 28
June1997. AmericanPlays Johnson 255
The responseof the critics can be groupedinto threetypes: those that avoid mentionof the productionin their writing, thosethat dislike it and thosewhich celebrateit. Of thosethat avoid discussingthe actualproduction this seemsto be becausetheir intention is to
highlight anotherarea of the work. This is demonstratedby WinsomeHines in The Voice
and by an anonymous writer for The Stage.
Hines's first article is entirely dedicated to one of the lead performers, Syan Blake
76 (Minnie). For the present writer this is due to the fact that Blake (at the time) may have
beenseen as one of Britain's up and coming leadingblack performersdue to her role as
Frankiein the BBC's Eastenders.The article focusesmore on Blake's ability to copewith
her new role in the public eyethan her role as batteredwife in Flyin' West.When Hines
commentson the play in a later article it is only to provide a brief descriptionof the
77 78 action. A similar focus is evident in the write up of the productionin TheStage. In this
article the writer's entire attentionis also placedon a black British celebrity ratherthan
any aspectof the productionitself. On this occasionthe artist is stand-upcomic Angie Le
Mar. The presentwriter suggeststhat the Artistic Director may havetaken a chanceon
working with well-known namesas shemay have felt that:
* Talawacould benefit from the publicity.
o Talawamight seean increasein audienceattendance.
76 WinsomeHines, 'Once burnt Syan'sshy', Voice,2 June 1997,p. 23. 77 WinsomeHines, 'Flyin'West' Voice,16 June 1997,p. 52. AmericanPlays Johnson 256
If these were Talawa's intentions the company did not appear to have benefited from this action.This can be demonstratedby the fact that a third of the reviewsand articleson the productiondedicated their whole pieceto the abovetwo performerswith only the merest mentionof Talawa's production.Additionally, there is no evidenceto suggestthat audience attendancewas any higher than for previous productions. Whilst employing theseperformers did not give Talawathe recognitionthat it was perhapsseeking, the articles cannot be seento have done harm to the company by giving positive publicity
to the performers concerned. Conversely some of the negative reviews can be seento have
beenattempting to do harm to Talawaand the company'swork:
Unfortunately,the play is as slow as an arthritic snail in an
advancedstate of depression.The pacemay evoke for you the
laid-back field it atmosphereof a sun-bakedcotton ... or may just sendyou to sleep.Given the importantmatters at the heart
of the work, that is a very greatshame. 79
The presentwriter notesthe critic's view that the paceis slow but the play haspotential.
What makesit slow? What is it aboutTalawa's performancethat makesthe critic suggest
it haspotential? Whilst the presentwriter believesthat critics must havethe right to
commenthonestly on the work they critique they shouldalso demonstratea fair senseof
responsibilityby explainingtheir assertionswhich may otherwise,and unfairly hann a
company'sreputation.
78 Anon, 'Jokes are on hold for now', Stage, 19 June 1997, p. 10. 79Douglas McPherson, Tlyin' West', What's on in London, 18-25 June 1997, p.58. AmericanPlays Johnson 257
JamesChristopher in addition to being more scathing than McPherson can be seento be demonstrating a lack of understanding of Talawa's work:
Yvonne Brewsterhas misspentmost of her directing careertrying
to turn messagesabout black empowen-nentinto frontline theatre.
Shemust imaginethat her stilted productionshave been dropping
rednecks on their knees for 20 odd years. Let's get real. This is the
Drill Hall, the cultural epicentre of the politically correct. To all but
the convertedPearl Cleage's Tlyin' West' is not news it is worthy
rubbish.80
Christopher'scomments can be seento suggestthat messagespromoting black advancement,or showsdepicting historical eventsthat do so shouldnot makemainstream theatricalproductions. As the critic hasthe powerto commentin an influential public forum on work that is representativeof non-mainstreamaspects of British culture,this work shouldbe at leastpartly understoodby the critic for its relevanceto the sectionof the populationthat it primarily aims to serve.Like Mc Phersonabove, Christopher makes assertionsthat he doesnotjustify. He offers no explanationas to how he knows what
Brewsterimagines the effectsof her work to be, or how he knows who is going to think
the productionis 'rubbish'. This kind of unqualifiedcriticism can be dangerousto Talawa
preciselybecause it comesfrom the mainstreampress that Talawa needsin order to access
a wider British audience.Christopher's comments also hint at a feeling of personal
irritation towardsboth Brewsterand her work (not just for her productionof Flyin' West AmericanPlays Johnson 258 but for the company'swork generally).With this in mind the presentwriter questions whethera critic working from this starting point is able to makea fairjudgementof
Talawa'swork.
The present writer also questions the starting point when Cavendish comments:
What should offer a powerful conflict between people who
havebeen driven to extremes,becomes a simplistic stand-off
betweena demonicwife-beater and womenwho seemto spend 81 moretime celebratingtheir strengththan minding the crops.
Thereis a suggestionthat Cavendishhas not recognisedthe value that an oppressedpeople
may put on celebratingthe strengthsand achievementsof thosethat have gonebefore
them and who havehelped them to get to wherethey aretoday. For Talawa,this kind of
representationis an importantaspect of the company'swork as it offers the black British
audiencespecific cultural information.
With this lack of sensitivity from a sectionof the mainstreampress to Talawa's work it is
perhapsunlikely that suchcritics would be willing to find somethinggood aboutthe
company.The presentwriter suggeststhat thosewhose opinions must be considered
perhapsmore seriouslythen are thosewho are readyto embracethis kind of performance
workwithout seeing it asunnecessary or perhapseven as a threat.
80 James Christopher, 'Cry Freedom, Loudly', The Times, 13 June 1997, p.36. 81 Dominic Cavendish, 'Flyin" West', Time Out, 18-25 June 1997,p. 139. AmericanPlays Johnson 259
In the caseof the newspapercritics this is mostly demonstratedby the non- mainstream/specialist, and less powerful arm of the press and highlights an affinity betweenthe non-mainstreamtheatre and press.It is no surprisethat the black pressis
supportive of the production:
What holds the action together,apart from the quality of the
writing, is Brewster's excellent stage direction.
And:
Talawatheatre has been going for ten yearsand on the strength
of this production,it shouldkeep going pioneeringBlack European
theatrefor manymore. 82
What is most notablehere is the differencein perceptionbetween the black writer and the
white mainstreamwriters of the samepiece of work. This differenceis perhapsdue to
differing expectationsthat will havebeen partly formed by eachwriter's pastexperience
of British theatregenerally. For the black writer the appreciationof Brewster'swork may
be partly due to the fact that sheis botheringto do the work at all and thereforecatering to
a groupthat may otherwisebe neglected.The fact that Brewster's quality and style of
work arealso praisedhere may suggestthat this writer hasa clear understandingof what it
is Brewsteris trying to achieveand is able to assessthe degreeto which shehas been
82Uju Aslka, 'Flyin' West to freedom',Journal, 18-24June 1997.The pagenumber of the review is unavailable.Archives of the Journal are housedat the newspapersection of London's British Library for 1993only. The Journal collapsedin 1999and no public archival recordshave been kept. Formerfeatures writer Michael Caveis not awareof any archival recordsto date- 10 April 2001.The presentwriter possessesa copy of the review without the pagenumber. AmericanPlays Johnson 260 successfulin this aim. Brewstercan be seenthen to be pleasingher primary target audience.
Perhapsfor Talawa.to reachand havea similar impact in the mainstream,the mainstream needto expandtheir expectationsof British theatreto genuinelyinclude more culturally diversework as producedby the recognisedexperts in eacharea. For the presentwriter part of the problem of Talawa's work not receiving positive recognition from the mainstream is in part due to the nature of the work being both black and British. If the work were one or the other theatricalstyles and themesrooted in the theatricalhistories of eitherAfrica, Britain or the Caribbeancould be expected.The fact that this genreis a comparativelynew and developingphenomenon may meanthat whilst black Britons welcomeit as it progressesand matures,their white counterpartsmay needto cometo termswith the existenceof the genrebefore being able to appreciateit fully.
Whilst this may be the casefor somemainstream British theatrecritics not all shouldbe assumedto have the sameopinion, level of interestor understandingof black British theatre.Thaxter comments,'The result is a witty hugely enjoyablemelodrarna. ' 83 Forthe presentwriter it is the anonymouscomment in the Big lssue however,that seemsto have fully understoodat leastone of the messagesto be taken from Talawa's performance:
The TalawaTheatre Company addresses the difficult questions
of cultural identity and of the women's struggleto survive in a
harshand unforgiving frontier land. It certainly puts paid to the AmericanPlays Johnson 261
84 Spice Girls' claims to have invented girl power.
Decidingwhich group of the contrastingabove reviews best represented Talawa's
productionwould havebeen impossible had the presentwriter not (alongwith watching
various showings of the company's archival video performance) witnessed Talawa
Theatre Company's final performance of Flyin' Westat London's Drill Hall on 28 June
1997. From this live performance he was able to gauge the general effect of the
performance on the audience as well as develop his own opinion of Talawa's production.
The Drill Hall was filled to eighty percentcapacity and the ticket payingaudience were
one hundred percent black. 85What was apparent to the present writer was a readinesson
the part of the audienceto reactto Talawa's perfon-nance.This was displayedat any high
point by mutterings,comments, sighs and laughter.For the presentwriter this behaviour
was epitomisedby a lady on his left who appearedto want to shareher theatrical
experienceat variouspoints throughoutthe performance.This was particularly the casefor
scenesthat either showedor madereference to the domesticviolence being sufferedby
Blake's Minnie, and ultimately when Thomas'sFrank enjoyedeating the poisonedapple
pie:
Good, Good, Good, that's all I can say,they did the bestthing
with him. He didn't deserveany betterthan that.86
83 JohnThaxter, 'Flyin' West', Stage,3 July 1997,p. 14. 84 S.K., 'Flyin' West', Big Issue,2-8 June 1997,p. 32. 85 The white membersof the audiencewere known to the presentwriter as Drill Hall staff. 86 Voice of audiencemember at Talawa's performanceof Flyin' West,28 June 1997. AmericanPlays Johnson 262
Smiling,the lady then apologisedto the presentwriter. The fact that this audiencemember hadbecome overtly involved in the show was neithera new experienceat a Talawa performancespecifically or in black theatregenerally. 87 Where what may be seenas what the presentwriter refersto hereas a black British 'dilemma' appearingto assertitself was
in the fact that the lady was apologisingin caseshe had disturbedthe presentwriter's viewing. Her tentativeapology demonstrated that shewas not surewhether she had acted
appropriately or not. She can be seento have been exhibiting her natural and generally
acceptedreaction in black theatre, mixed with her knowledge of the fact that the company
is British and may perhapsexpect a lessvocal reaction.She may also have seenthe
presentwriter as reservedand could havebeen reacting entirely to her perceptionof him.
Her reactionhowever was not unique,and as this behaviourwas not objectedto it
appearedto be generallyunderstood by the wider audienceas a reasonableway of
responding.Such reactions indicated to the presentwriter that the audiencehad been
drawn into and were enjoyingthe performance.Unless all of the other audienceswere less
involvedthe presentwriter questionswhy this positive audiencereaction went
unmentionedby all of the critics. It is possiblethat for the black pressthe reactionmay
havebeen considered to be normal and thereforenot worthy of mentionwhilst for the
mainstreampress the reactionsmay havebeen interpreted as a disturbance.
For the presentwriter Talawahad achieveda high standardof performanceoverall. For
him the productionheld what he hascome to recogniseas someof the physicalhallmarks
of a Talawashow. This is in partdue to the factthat designer Ellen Cairns has created over
seventYpercent of the setsfor Talawa, including Flyin' Westand on eachoccasion has
97 SeeChapter Two and the discussionof black theatrical forms and audienceparticipation. AmericanPlays Johnson 263
developedan ambienceof the main themesof the play throughher minimalist designs.
The sparsetwo-tiered set for this production left ample space for Talawa's performance.
As Talawatoed the 'conventional' theatricalline and did not introduceany physical
specialeffects, sound effects, or inappropriatelyelaborate theatre fon-ns or costumesto the
production the audience were left to focus entirely on the actors' perfon-nances.
For any audience member who follows Talawa's work the fact that many of the actors'
faces were recognisable from previous Talawa shows was immediately evident. The
presentwriter questionedhow versatilethese actors would proveto be. As the majority of
Talawa'swork hasbeen of the Caribbeangenre many of the performershad takenpart in
this kind of work demonstratingthat they were able to work with at leastthe semblanceof
a Caribbeanvoice. In Flyin' Westall of the performerswith previousexperience of
Talawa,demonstrated that they were able to give a convincing performanceusing an
Americanvoice and thus demonstratedsome versatility with their useof verbal repertoire.
As with From the MississippiDelta the perfonnersin Flyin'West receivedvoice coaching.
The sessionswere deliveredby ClaudetteWilliams and may have contributedto the oral
the 88There is however, documentation in Talawa's files successof performers. no archival
of the voice sessionsthat were led by Williams and no indication of the startingpoint the
performerswere working from. The presentwriter is only able to commentthen on the
end resultthat demonstrates(as seenin previousproductions) that Talawa's perfon-ners
generallyappeared to have little difficulty in reproducingan appropriateAmerican voice.
88 ClaudetteWilliams had provideddialect coachingfor Talawa's productionof Beefno Chicken. AmericanPlays Johnson 264
For the presentwriter it was the performancesof Ben Thomasand Angie Le Mar that were mostmemorable. Ben Thomasas Frank(in addition to demonstratinga credibleAmerican voice) showedmore versatility and theatricaldepth than the rest of Talawa's cast.His performancecan be seento have beena braveendeavour as he was cast in the role of the outsiderand playing to an audiencewho may also have regardedboth Thomas'scharacter andThomas the actor as such.His outsiderstatus defined by his mixed raceroots, as discussedabove, will also have given the mixed racemembers of the audiencethe experience of seeing a portrayal of a perceived aspect of themselves (although negative), representedon the British stage. The strength of Thomas's performance created a discernible hatred from the audience throughout each of his appearances.Thomas managedto display a detestable arrogance and dislike of black people with every movement he made and phrase he uttered. For the present writer the critics do not appear to have appreciated the skill of Thomas's performance as little or no mention is made of his work in the reviews. Conversely the performance of Angie Le Mar (who lacked the skill and depth displayed by Thomas) received considerably more press attention although little reference was made to the details of her actual performance.
As Angie Le Mar is known and respectedas a stand-upcomic it was perhapsexpected that shewould be equally entertainingin Flyin' West.It is also possiblethat someaudience membersmay haveassumed that the play would be a comedybecause she was in it. Her popularitywithin her usual performancegenre may also haveencouraged high performanceexpectations in this new forum. For the presentwriter Le Mar's initial entry AmericanPlays Johnson 265 on stageput all questionson her acting ability to rest as threecentral factorsof her performance became apparent.
Firstly, Le Mar was unableto produceany kind of believableAmerican voice:
Although the play is set in the American West,Angie
Le Mar's accent brings you down South with a jolt,
SouthLondon, that is.89
This instantlytook away from the credibility of her characterFannie.
Secondly,Le Mar's lack of stageacting experiencewas shownby the way shestumbled
throughher lines and movedaround the stageas if following specific directionsshe had
memorised.Whilst Le Mar is skilled and accustomedto having a stageand audienceto
herselfher lesserstage acting ability was highlighted in the companyof otherswho have
dedicatedthemselves to this areaof perfon-nance.
ThirdlY, Le Mar exhibited an embarrassinglack of confidencethroughout the entire
performance.This may havestemmed from someof the following: PossiblyLe Mar felt
underpressure knowing that her popularity and skill as a stand-upcomic went beforeher.
Shemay also havebeen aware that her lack of acting ability and experienceshowed.
Importantly,prior to acceptingthe role Brewsterhad commentedto the presentwriter, 41
89 Uju Aslka, Tlyin' West to freedom', Journal, 18-24 June 1997. See footnote 82 for explanation of missing page reference. AmericanPlays Johnson 266
do it -)90 am trying to get Angie Le Mar for this but she can't decide if she wants to or not.
PerhapsLe Mar was aware of her shortcomings in this area.
be In spiteof the aboveTalawa's audienceresponded to her performancewith what may
describedas compassion.Seemingly aware that the role was perhapsbeyond her, there by was as a feeling of supportfor Le Mar from the audience.This was demonstrated the
audience'sfocus when shespoke. The audienceseemed somehow to be willing her on.
Additionally, therewere no mutteringsduring or after her appearancesas occurredduring
otherparts of the performance.This also confirmed to the presentwriter that the
mutteringswere a positive sign.
For the presentwriter the audienceseemed to be treating Le Mar like a closefriend. This
was perhapsa testamentto her popularity but may also have indicatedthat black British
audiences,in a bid to supportblack theatre,are preparedto seethe positive in what is
presentedprimarily for the black British theatre-goingcommunity. This may also indicate
the extentto which contemporaryblack audiencesare readyfor theatrethat is relevantto
them.
Talawa'sperformance of the Americanplays discussedthroughout this chaptercan be
seenas a multiple achievement.In addition to highlighting someof the versatility of the
black talent availableto contemporaryBritish theatreand providing training in this genre
90Comment by Yvonne Brewster to David Johnson at Talawa offices London, I March 1997 after initial discussions on Flyin' West. AmericanPlays Johnson 267 thereare three further achievementsthat the presentwriter feelsTalawa's work in this genredemonstrates.
Firstly, the fact that Talawatook the risk of introducingthis genreto its audienceand madewhat the presentwriter regardsas an uncalculatedcommitment to the presentationof this kind of work demonstratesthe company'sinnovative approach to its artistic
commitment.Secondly, the performanceof the American plays show Talawa continuing
to recognisethe widespreadneeds of both its diverseblack audienceand its developing
mainstreamfollowers. Thirdly, the work points to Talawa's determinationto produce
work that it regardsas quality writing. This approachmay also lessenthe possibility of the
companybeing easilymarginalised by the mainstream.
Finally, the work that TalawaTheatre Company has producedin presentingwork in the
Americangenre, points to an artistic and managerialflexibility that perhapspartly
accountsfor the company'slongevity to date. Additionally, the work highlights the
company'sawareness of the needto move forward in its performancework, whilst
continuallydemonstrating its commitmentto its mission statement.With this in mind the
presentwriter feels that the possibility of the companycontinuing to produceAmerican
work presentingfurther heritagefacts from a rangeof perspectivesis great.Due to the
comparativepositive mainstreamresponse to the American plays the presentwriter
estimatesthat Talawa's future mainstreamsuccesses are likely to come from work in this
area.As Talawa continuesto perform this genreits expertisewill developand may
ultimately seethe companymoving into additional genresof performancework. With time AmericanPlays Johnson 268 this may seethe companybeing regardedas able to accuratelyrepresent a rangeof culturesin performancewithout being limited to thosewith an Afro/Caribbeanheritage. EnglishPlays Johnson 269
CHAPTER SIX
ENGLISH PLAYS
Chapter Six aims to highlight some of what Talawa, Theatre Company can be seen to have achieved through its performance of English plays. Additionally, as seenwith the previous two chapters,the present writer's analysis of the productions also illustrates Talawa's
commitmentto its tripartite missionstatement.
This chapteris divided into two partsas follows:
PartOne - The Genre
This sectionaims to provide a backdropto Talawa's work in this areaand is divided into
threeparts:
9 No placefor blackswithin the oral languageof the traditional British stage.
* Understandingthe genrewithin the context of contemporaryblack British theatre.
* An introductionto Talawa's productionsin this genrethrough a brief analysisof the
company'sproductions of Anthony and Cleopatra,King Lear and Ms Pity She'sa Nore. EnglishPlays Johnson 270
PartTwo - The Plays
The playsthat are discussedin this sectionare dealt with in chronologicalorder of performance.Firstly is Talawa's performanceof OscarWilde's TheImportance ofBeing
Ernest.Four areasare discussed:
* Talawa's initial foray into this genreand the company'saims in doing the play.
e Audience and media responsesto the production.
* How can contemporaryblacks play white Victorians?
* The languageof the text versusthe colour of the performers.
The secondplay to be discussedis Talawa's performanceof Shakespeare's01hello. Four
areasare discussed:
e Talawa's aims in doing the play.
* Audienceand mediaresponses to the production.
9 The languageof the text versusthe colour of the performers.
e PlayingOthello - The Actors' perspective. EnglishPlays Johnson 271
Part One - The Genre " 'And then to summonriffraff to mock my mothertongue.
Both whilst Britain was a leadingcolonial power and for decadesafter colonial rule had endedthe oral languagefor British stageperfon-nance was principally the voice of the wealthy British uppermiddle classes.This was the voice of an 61itegroup that was and 2 remainspowerful in British theatre,literature and education. The uppermiddle classes usedthe referencepoints of their own existenceto provide dramaticentertainment for each other. Speechforms that did not meetthis standardwere not generallyused centre stage.
Dabydeenand Wilson-Tagoedemonstrate the importanceof languagein justifying how the speakersof lesspopular forms may be treated.In the casethey cite thosewho are 3 perceivedto usethe incorrectlanguage forms are also consideredless worthy of living.
Whilst not using the specific oral languageof the British theatrehas probably never resultedin death,performers who would not, or could not producethe requiredsound could expectto havea lessactive performancelife than thosewho did.
It is perhapsthe speechof black performersthat hasbeen most harshlytreated in
oppositionto the British stage'standard'. Negative opinions of speechproduced by black
peoplecan be seento havebeen in existencefor centuriesas is demonstratedby the work
1 Ola Rotimi, The GodsAre Not To Blame,(Talawa's rehearsalscript of the company's1989 production), ?.46, voice of Odewale. Helen Gilbert and JoanneTompkins, Post Colonial Drama: theory,practice andpolitics (London/New York: Routledge,1996), p. IS. 3 David Dabydeenand Nana Wilson-Tagoe,A Reader'sGuide to WestIndian and Black British Literature (London: Hansib/Rutherford,1988), p. 165.Dabydeen and Wilson-Tagoequote the Bible, Book of Judges,Chapter 12, verse, 4. Seealso, Holy Bible (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,1988), EnglishPlays Johnson 272 of writers in the 1600swho soughtto reduceblack peopleto a subhumanlevel by likening 4 their speechto that of animals. Whilst suchthoughts were prevalentthere was probably
no healthyplace for blacks in 'serious' British performance.It was not merelythe sound
of the languagethat causedit to be perceivedas 'animalistic' but notions surroundingthe
physicalblackness of the peoplewho spokeit that suggestedblacks were lesshuman than
whites.
Where it was apparent that a black person could produce the 'standard' speechof her/his
white counterpartswriters in the sameperiod (1678) seemedto needto explain this.
Aphra Behn's Oroonoko,is described:
His facewas not of that brown, rusty Black which most of that
Nation are,but a perfect Ebony,or polish'd Jett. His Eyeswere
the most awful, (impressive)that cou'd be seen,and very piercing;
the White of 'em being like Snow,as were his Teeth.His Nosewas
rising and Roman,instead of African, and flat. His Mouth, the finest
shap'd that could be seen;far from thosegreat turnd Lips which are so
naturalto the rest of the NegroeS.5
Only peoplewith Europeanfeatures were believedthen capableof producingEuropean
'standard'speech. This notion would help keepblack peoplefrom the British stage.In
pp. 272-273,Book of Judges,Chapter 12, verses4-6. 4 Ibid. 'in 1634,Sir ThomasHerbert suggested that Africans and apesmated with eachother, the evidence being African 'more like languageis of this that speechsounded that of apesthan men... their ratherapishly than articulatelyfounded'. EnglishPlays Johnson 273
it additionto the negativestereotypes surrounding the physicalappearance of black people can be shownhow historically the generalnegative connotations surrounding the word have black may also havecontributed to the negativestatus black peopleand their speech 6 received.Fryer demonstrateshow the word black negatedanything it preceded.
Although a negativeattitude to things black may have prevailedfrom at leastas early as the sixteenhundreds a black presencein British theatrecan still be provento haveexisted prior to and during this period. This is seenperhaps most obviously in Shakespeare's
Othello. Whilst the characterof Othello is perhapsthe clearestexample of an historical
black characteron the British stage,for the presentwriter the work of the black actor Ira 7 Aldridge sometwo hundredyears later can be seenas the real life historical equivalent.
Despitethis historical black presenceon the British stageand the eloquenceof both
Othello and Aldridge, when black performerswere introducedto the British and colonial
stagesit was generallybecause their languageand culture were to be usedto heightentheir
basenessand perceivedlack of intelligence.This would thenjustify their lowly position in
society.8
3AphraBehn, Oroonoko:or, the RoyalSlave: A True History (London: Will. Canning,1688), pp. 20-21. 6 PeterFryer, Staying Power: TheHistory ofBlack Peoplein Britain (London: Pluto Press,1984), p. 135. 7 Aldridge emergedin the early 1830s.He is believedto haveacted with the African Theatrein New York, which was establishedaround 1820.The theatrewas also known as the Brown's theatre,named after the founderMr Brown who had beena stewardon a Liverpool liner. His theatredeveloped from the 'bruckins' and 'tea meetings'he held. The 'bruckins' and 'tea meetings'are discussedin Errol Hill's, TheJamaican Stage1655-1900: A Profile of Colonial Theatre(Amherst: The University of MassachusettsPress, 1992), pp. 253-257andpp. 257-261 respectively. Although the entertainmentwas aimedat the black gentry it also becamepopular with whites.Aldridge's life and work is discussedby HerbertMarshall and Midlrcd Stock in Ira Aldridge: TheNegro Tragedian(London: The CamelotPress Ltd., 1958),pp. 3 I and 36 and pp.40-43. 8 This is seenin the following texts: RichardCumberland, The WestIndian (Perth:Morison and Son, 1771), and Bickestaffe,The Padlock, (Cork: Anon, 1770). EnglishPlays Johnson 274
9 Until the late 1960sthis meant performing servile roles with little in terms of speech. This treatmentof black performerscan be seenas an act of oppressionthat servedto instil the notion that thesewere the only roles they were believedcapable of occupyingin society.
Perhapsthey were not shownas speakingbecause society did not want to heartheir voice.
For the present writer any acknowledgement that their voice was heard would perhaps force wider societyto deal with a sectionof its populacethat it was choosingto ignore.
Additionally, if society listened to the messageit would then have to respond to it.
Contemporaryblack theatrepractitioners can be seento havehad few choicesif they wishedto work on the British stage.They could either acceptthe inheritednotions of the mainstreamthat would on the whole not makefor an active career,or they could create their own theatre.Talawa can be shownto havedone the latter. Whilst creatingits own work Talawacan be seento havefelt comfortableto work within the British traditional canon.
In light of the fact that 'Shakespeare'sachievements have been more consistently
Western he has be recognize , and throughoutthe world cometo regardedas the greatest "O dramatistever, it can be expectedthat any British theatrecompany would wish to do his
work. Talawa's resolveto work in this areacan also be seento have stemmedfrom the
fact that, 'The young Yvonne was sentto a smartboarding school. St.Hilda's Diocesan,in
9 Interview with Earl Cameronby David Johnson,Cameron's London home, 28 May 1997. 10See internet http://encarta. site: msn.com/rind/concise. asl2? z--i &Vg--2&tr--02989000- William Shakespeare- 02/09/00 EnglishPlays Johnson 275
Kingston. There she developed what was to become a lifelong passion for European and
British theatre."'
In the view of the presentwriter Talawa.'s decisionto work in this area(in addition to demonstrating the company's commitment to its mission statement), can be seen to have impactedpositively on both mainstreamand black British theatreby:
* Vigorously challenging perceptions of black theatre as English classics may not be
seenas the obvious choiceof work for a black theatrecompany. Talawa can be seen
hereto be commentingthat black theatreshould not be limited to the performanceof
black playsalone and that it acceptsthe British classicsas an importantpart of its
variedperformance history.
lo Affording black actors(who may miss out on performingwithin the British classical
genrebecause they may be deemedas inappropriatebecause of their colour) the
opportunityto work professionallywithin the genre.This providesblack actorswith
training in this area.As Talawa,has consistently used white actorsin the performance
of its classicalproductions it can also be seento be providing a training ground for
white performersworking within the genrein a black setting.This practical studyof
black theatreis presentlyunavailable to blacksand whites alike in British drama
schools.
11Roy Bartholemew, 'Homeless,but not rootless', Independent,I November 1995,p. 10. EnglishPlays Johnson 276
Expandingthe languageof black theatreto incorporatethe 'highest' standardsof
British theatrical'standard' speech.
Approachingthe texts from a new perspective.The fact that playsthat were probably
not intendedfor black actorsand are later performedby them can be seento
automaticallygive the work a new meaning.This is both becauseof the colour of the 12 actorsthat may affect the meaningof the text, and the new contextof black
performersdoing 'white' work in Britain.
For the presentwriter a further achievementis in the fact that Talawahas not aimedto
give its productionsof the classicsa black stanceand thereforecan be seennot to have
enteredinto the realmsof stereotypicalblack theatre.The notion that Talawashould
chooseto perform British classicalscripts as they are, may appearto go againstthe criteria 13 that black theatrecompanies often haveto meetin order to securefunding. Additionally,
it maybe queriedwhy it is that a 'black' theatrecompany should choose to do work that
maynot be stereotypicallyrepresentative of them. Talawa,had after all beengiven
fundingto creatework that was essentiallywritten, performedand directedby black
people.In this regardperformances of the classicsmay havebeen seen as not strictly
meetingfunding criteria and presumablycould have presentedTalawa with some
opposition.Brewster presents a further argumentthat may explain oppositionfrom the
mainstream,'People only act funny about Black actorsplaying Shakespearebecause it's
12This is seenin Part Two in the discussionof Talawa's productionsof both TheImportance of Being Earnestand Othello. 13See discussion in ChapterThree of Talawa's funding. EnglishPlays Johnson 277
England'sgreatest export. It's like having a black woman playing the queenand I don't seenanything wrong with that.' 14
Additionally, Brewstercan be seento have felt that this genreof work was an intrinsic part of her heritageand that of her companyand could thereforebe seento be meetingall funding criteria:
Actors who worked with her on Shakespeareplays blithely recall
how shewould haul out from nowherea classicalpainting depicting
imagesof black figures- in order to hammerhome the fact of black
people'sparticipation in Europeancivilisation and art.15
For the presentwriter it is reasonablethat there shouldbe expectationson Talawa'swork.
Theseexpectations would perhapsbe most beneficialto the companyand the audience alike if they focusedon the developmentof the quality of the company'swork. If Talawa, is to work within the remit of what the mainstreamregards as suitablefor 'black' theatre, and therebyavoid the classics,there is a risk that the company'swork will be narrow only performingwork that hasthe most obviousblack link. The presentwriter suggeststhat
Talawa's performanceof classicalwork is a relevantdemonstration of the company'sneed to createand breakits own artistic boundariesas well as to demonstratethat black theatre
is all encompassing.
14Allister Harry, 'The Voice Interview: Yvonne Brewster,Enter, StageLefl! ', Voice,7 November1995, P.19. EnglishPlays Johnson 278
Throughthe performanceof suchwork Talawa can be seento havebeen committed to makinga differenceby taking the plungefor inclusivenessin all aspectsof British theatre.
This effort can be takento meanthat Talawa is aiming to build its repertoireand give Talawa black performersthe opportunityto play great leadingroles. For the presentwriter This is not aiming to createits own version of the Royal ShakespeareCompany (RSC).
can be demonstratedby the fact that Talawa,has only produceda total of five productions 16 in this genrein its fifteen-yearhistory.
Of the five productionsthat are featuredin this genrefor the purposeof this studytwo are
discussedin depth in the secondpart of this chapter.The remainingthree works are
discussedbelow. The presentwriter's decisionto discussthe following threeproductions
to a lesserdegree is twofold:
e Talawa's archival records,materials and documentationof the work (including video
resources)are scarce.
Given the word limit and natureof the presentstudy it was felt that in depthdiscussion
of TheImportance ofBeing Earnestand Othello was more beneficial to the overall
work.
13Roy Bartholemew,'Homeless, but not rootless, Independent,I November1995, p. 10. 16In order of performancethe productionsthat Talawa has producedin this areaare: Wilde's The Importanceof Being Earnest(1989), Shakespeare'sAnthony and Cleopatra(1991) and King Lear (1994), JohnFord's Ms Pity She'sa Whore(1995), and Shakespeare'sOthello, 1997. EnglishPlays Johnson 279
The following discussion of Talawa's productions of Anthony and Cleopatra, King Lear
and Ms Pity She'sa "ore are usedhere to demonstratethe presentwriter's notionsof
Talawa'sachievements in this areaby pointing to both the rangeof Talawa'swork in this
genre,and the company'sgeneral approach to the productions.
Talawa'sproduction of Anthony and Cleopatraran from 16 May to 15 June 1991, and was
the first all black production in the available documented history of British theatre.
According to Mark Borkowski's press release for Talawa:
Stagingsof Shakespeare'swork with black castsin the past
havebeen rare: in the 1930s,Orson Welles directed the famous
'voodoo' 'Macbeth': in the 1970s,there was 'Umabatha',the Zulu
version of the play, and in the early 80s,the National Theatrestaged 17 a mixed cast,'Measure for Measure'.
For the presentwriter, this kind of pressrelease helped to provide a build up to the show
that could haveadded pressure to what was perhapsalready an insecuremoment in the
company'sperformance history. At the pre-performancestage of its productionof
Anthonyand Cleopatra,Talawa was in no position to gaugewhat the responseto its
productionwould be.
17Mark Borowski, pressrelease prepared for Talawa's productionof Anthonyand Cleopatra.See Talawa productionarchives for Anthonyand Cleopatra,- publicity file. EnglishPlays Johnson 290
This first foray into Shakespeareis perhapsnoteworthy because of the lack of 'black voice' in the production.Talawa can be seennot to have usedits unique 'blackness'as a centralpart of its performance.It can be arguedthat it was not necessaryfor the company to do so becauseof the fact that the performers' skin colour was obviousto the audience andbore no relevanceto the performance.For the presentwriter the fact that Talawadid not feel that it had to becomeinvolved in the presentationof what may havebeen artistically expected of the company had at least one serious potential consequence.
Talawa,ran the risk of limiting its audience. White audiences may not have wished to see black performersdo what they can seewhite performersdoing all the time, whilst black audiencesmay not havewished to seework that they may feel doesnot representthem.
Onereaction from the mainstreampress accurately points to what the presentwriter regardsas the unfair burdenplaced on black theatrepractitioners to provide what may be
seenas unlimited exoticism:
It may be that we haverapidly learnt to expecttoo much of
our black theatrecompanies. We have cometo look for newly
exciting, uninhibited acting styles- an anticipationwhich in
itself may rest upon stereotypes- and lessnaturalistic staging
which we think in somevague way might draw upon ritual.
More reasonablywe hopethat their approachto the European
classicswill produceradically new perspectivesand references EnglishPlays Johnson 281
18 to surpriseus.
Therewould be a further lack of 'surprise' by the fact that Brewsterhad decidednot to use any kind of oral Afro/Caribbeanvoice to stampthe company's'blackness' all over the play. The speechproduced was a clear attemptto usethe establishedvoice of the RSC.
Bearingin mind that none of the actorsor director were RSC trained the attemptto copy the style can be seento havebeen used because Talawa felt that this was the appropriate voice for the performance of Shakespeare.As no voice training was provided the actors' job can be seento havebeen particularly difficult. Talawa was not doing what was expectedof a black theatregroup and was in effect performingwhat may havebeen seen as a ratherBritish production.This would inevitably lead to comparisonswith a history of
'successful'British Shakespeareanproductions.
For the presentwriter what shouldbe borne in mind is the fact that Talawa was perhaps attemptingto find its own voice within this genre.The oral imitation shouldbe understood within the contextof the company'sBritish theatrehistory and the British/colonial history
of the Artistic Director and performers.It is possiblethat attemptingto stick to established
modelswas what the companyfelt most comfortablewith at this point in its theatrical
evolution.
Talawa's movementfrom working within a rangeof Caribbean,African, American,and
experimentalproductions to its productionof Anthony and Cleopatra highlights what can
be seenas the company'sattempt to createan intellectualdepth and wealth of work for the
18 Jeffrey Wainwright, 'An African Queen',Independent, 30 April 1991,p. 14. EnglishPlays Johnson 282 company'srepertoire. The approachto the work (as can be seenfrom what is discussed above)was creativelylimited and perhapsnecessarily so if Talawawas to be able to continueto work within this genrewithout stereotypicalexpectations. Whether intentionallyor not Talawa can be seento have given itself the possibility of later performing within the genre without having to live up to set expectations. This would also afford the company the opportunity to later experiment within its range of performance approachesto Shakespeareand other classics.
Having performedAnthony and Cleopatra,Talawa had the advantageof being able to use its notion of the mediareaction to it to gaugewhen the company'snext classical productionshould be and how it would be approached.The presentwriter suggeststhat it was perhapsthe generallyunfavourable, reviews of A n1honyand Cleopatrathat discouragedTalawa, from attemptinganother classic immediately.
Fromthe presentwriter's readingof the reviews it would seemthat all areasof Talawa's productionreceived some negative response. This is exemplifiedby commentstaken from
The designis described Almost too threereviews of the show. set as' .. a simple one. simple:There's a line of steps,a wall, a backdrop.And that's about it. '19
Philip Key, agreeingthat the set is simplistic also explainswhy this is problematic:
Unfortunatelyit is not a greathelp with narrativedrive.
Rome and Egypt are playedout in the samespace as the battlesthat
occur: and eventhe costumes- fun as they may be makeit difficult to EnglishPlays Johnson 283
20 judge who exactly is whom.
In addition to this Brewster'sdirection is seento be 'simplistic' in her choiceof staging techniques,21 and 'as a conceptualre-interpretation Yvonne Brewster'sproduction is disappointing.' 22 Perhapsmost biting is Key's commentthat 'No-one on stageseems 23 quite awareof what they are doing, the words often deliveredin a turn te turn style.
Similarly the performers are discussedwith a suggestion that the roles they played were
(asdemonstrated by their performances)beyond them at this stagein their careers.Phillips comments,'Not all of the speechifyingis clear. Reny Setna'sEnobarbus is often
-)24After ' is -)25Wainwright garbled. a generalcomment that the acting uneven , states, 26 'Renu Setna,trying a more fastidiousthan gruff Enobarbus,is not convincing. Equally both Jeffrey Kissoonas Anthony and Dona Croll as Cleopatrareceived comments on their
work that point to what may be seenas emotionally immatureperformances. 'Mr Kissoon 27 doesnot entirely solvethe paradoxof a man overwhelmedby Cleopatra'. 'Cleopatra,
meanwhile,gets the loud treatmentfrom Dona Croll. Not so much seductiveas
28 , Addtionally, for Wainwright Croll just aggressive. on pressnight was'. .. snatchinga
little at the role.' 29
19Richard Philips, 'Anthony and Cleopatra',Liverpool Echo,25 April 1991,p. 38. 20 Philip Key, 'Unsolved mysteries -the tale included', Daily Post, 25 April 1991, p.9. 21Ibid. 22 JeffreyWainwright, 'An African Queen',Independent, 30 April 1991, p. 14. 23 Philip Key, 'Unsolved mysteries the tale included', Daily Post, 25 April 1991,p. 9. 24 - RichardPhilips, 'Anthony and Cleopatra',Liverpool Echo, 25 April 1991,p. 38. 23 Jeffrey Wainwright, 'An African Queen', Independent, 30 April 1991, p. 14. 26Ibid. 27Ibid. 28 Philip Key, 'Unsolved mysteries- the tale included', Daily Post,25 April 1991,p. 9. 29 JeffreyWainwright, 'An African Queen',Independent, 30 April 1991, p. 14. EnglishPlays Johnson 284
In amongst the negative comments it is worth noting that the critics were able to point to the successof Ben Thomas playing Caesar. 'Only Ben Thomas's Caesarmakes an impression,his anguishover his friend's desertiononly too clear,30 and, 'He (the characterCaesar) is playedby Ben Thomas,another forceful characterand the most 31 understandable.' The critics can be seenthen to havegiven credit wherethey felt it was duc.
It may be that what can be seen as the critics' general disappointment with Talawa's performanceof Anthony and Cleopatrapartly stemmedfrom their notion of what they expectedfrom a black theatrecompany. Perhaps Talawa's attemptedRSC approachwhilst
'mimicking' the establishedoral style for the performanceof Shakespeareon the British stageseemed boring or even irrelevantfor the British presscoming from a black theatre group.It is possiblethat there had beenexpectations of the productionhaving an obvious
Caribbeanperformance style, perhapsset in the Caribbeanwith the performersusing a
Caribbean'lilt', with somesinging and dancingsomehow incorporated into the show. For the presentwriter, whilst the critics' disappointmentmay comefrom what may be seenas
Brewster's'lack of innovation', by not highlighting the 'ethnicity' of her group in her performanceother than by the incidentalvisual aspectof their skin colour, Brewstercan be commendedfor her decisionnot to work within what may be seenas expected
stereotypes.Three years after the company'sinitial foray into the classicalgenre Talawa presentedits audiencewith a secondclassical play.
30 Philip Key, 'Unsolvedmysteries tale included', Daily Post, 25 April 1991, 9. 31 -the p. RichardPhilips, 'Anthony and Cleopatra',Liverpool Echo, 25 April 1991,p. 38. EnglishPlays Johnson 285
Between16 March and 16April 1994Talawa, performed King Lear. This was the company'sfifteenth production.With performancesat Talawa's home in The Cochrane
Theatre,Talawa can be creditedwith bringing its productionof King Lear to the West
End.32 The novelty of Shakespearebeing performedin the West End by black actors possiblygave black theatrepractitioners confidence that theatreas performedby blacksin
Britain was being takenmore seriouslyby the mainstreamand perhapshad lesslimits imposedon it than in earlierdecades. Additionally, whereblack performerswere not seen in the majority of West End performances (as is the casetoday), Talawa can be seento haveput them, albeit briefly, centrestage.
33 Talawachose to dedicatethis historic performanceto the inspirationof Norman Beaton.
Beatonis perhapsthe best-knowncontemporary black actor in Britain to datemost widely known for his starringrole as Desmondin ChannelFour's television situationcomedy
Desmond's.The GuyaneseMr Beatonwas to play Lear until he becametoo ill. Black 34 British born Ben Thomaswas brought in at a week's notice to play the part.
Around the time Talawa performedKing Lear the companycan be seento havebeen
enjoyingpositive theatricalrecognition. The companywas now eight yearsold and had
beenawarded the new accoladeof 'Performing Arts Companyof the Decade'by The
Voicenewspaper. 35 For the presentwriter it is symbolic of the black theatregoing
community'sappreciation of the rangeof work that Talawa had given them that they
32 The productionalso toured Englandplaying at: The Nia Centre,Manchester, The QueensTheatre, Barnstableand The Playhouse,Oxford. 33 SeeTalawa production archives for King Lear publicity flyer and programmefor the production. 34 - Beaton'simage however, was still usedon the publicity as it was too late to changeit. EnglishPlays Johnson 286 receivedthis accoladejust beforethe productionof King Lear. A year later the company 36 was alsodescribed as, '.. Britain's leadingblack theatrecompany'. as '.. the internationally Talawa Theatre, 37 being, Britain's leadingblack renowned , and as theatregroup. ' 38
Appreciationfor Talawa's work was not limited to the black communityas Yvonne
Brewster was awarded her OBE in 1993 for her original contribution to British theatre.
Much of this contribution had beenachieved through her artistic directorshipof Talawa.
Brewstercomments, 'I decidedto acceptit for Talawa's hard work not becausewe were acceptedby the establishment.39
The supportof mainstreamtheatre practitioners for the productionof King Lear was demonstratedas Talawa had beenselected at this time, along with the RSC and The
National Theatreto do a seriesof trial videos for the nationalvideo archiveof stage performances.The videoswould be housedat London's TheatreMuseum, Covent Garden.
The TheatreMuseum also wantedTalawa (with this production)to take part in an exhibition being preparedon interpretingShakespeare. Archival video performancesof
Talawa'sKing Lear and Othello havesince been housed as permanentfeatures at the
TheatreMuseum.
35 SeeTalawa production archives for King Lear flyer and programmefor the production. 36 -publicity Anon, Ms Pity She'sa Whore,What's on in London,8 November 1995,p. 5 7. 37Allister Harry, 'The Voice Interview: Yvonne Brewster,Enter, Stage LOP, Voice,7 November 1995, r; 19. Roy Bartholemew,'Homeless, but not rootless', Independent,I November 1995,p. 10. 39Allisternarry, 'The Voice Interview: Yvonne Brewster,Enter, StageLeft! ', Voice,7 November 1995, P.19. EnglishPlays Johnson 287
In terrnsof the productionitself the possibility of exploring a depthand rangeof theatrical approachesfor the productiondoes not seemto have generallybeen a main intentionof the Artistic Director. WhereBrewster can be seento havemade a consciousattempt to put her own mark on the productionand expandthe performancerange of her actorshowever, was in her choice of language use.
The artistic decision that was most intended to influence the direction of the languageof the production was that of setting it in the future! OSetting the play in 2001 with a mostly black populationBrewster decided that a new languageform shouldbe found to reflect the time and ethnicity of the community.The languagedeveloped came from extendinga rangeof presentday British accents.The performerswere requiredto work on developing their perceivedand imaginaryevolution of vowel soundsfrom the presentday cockney accent,until touchingupon a soundthat worked for eachcharacter. Each performer was encouragedto find their voice. Actors found voices,presented them, and developedthem until they had found a soundthat madethe characteralive and original as well as harmonisewith the other voices.41
For the presentwriter Brewstercan be seenhere to have beenaiming to makethe play her own but had possiblynot fully exploitedthe route shehad chosento go down. This is suggestedfor two reasons.Firstly, settingthe playjust four yearsin the future raisesthe questionof how significantly the generallanguage of any speechcommunity would have changedwithin this relatively short time. There is perhapsan uncharacteristicfear being
40 Interview with Yvonne Brewster by David Johnson, Talawa offices London, 21 February 1998. 41Ibid. EnglishPlays Johnson 288 demonstratedhere by Brewsterby not going at leasttwenty yearsinto the future. Also problematic for the present writer is the fact that (in terms ofjudging Brewster's originality or intention to be so) Brewsteralso gives no real indicationof the original languagebase that she is working from. We cannotassume that Brewsteruses a rangeof voices from the black community as her previous work within this genre appearsto have attemptedto haveno links with suchspeech forms. Secondly,(in additionto her commitment to allowing her performers to find their own voice for the piece) Brewster also appearsto display a clear and contrary control of the languageto be produced by what the presentwriter regardsas her efforts to 'get to the voice right' by employinga voice coachfor the production.42 Whilst the former strategycan be seento complement
Brewster'sambitions to produceoriginal work, the latter suggeststhat the voice work may havesteered the performersinto attemptingto producethe traditional RSC style. This mixing of both forms of creatinga voice however,although may makeBrewster's dual strategyappear contradictory, can be seento havebeen successful in terrnsof generating audienceresponse.
Brewsterrecounts how when David Harewood'sEdmund stated,'To both thesewomen haveI pledgedmy love, now which one shall it be, shall I take one both or neitherT fie met the roar of a black woman in the audience'Typical Black man!943 Whilst it is possible
that shewas respondingto the messagealone, the presentwriter suggeststhat shefelt that
her behaviourwas exhibited in an appropriateforum as the languageshe was hearing
aroundher was in someway reminiscentof anaspect of her own.
42 Voice coachCicely Berry was employedto providethree days training for the 43 production. Interviewwith YvonneBrewster by David Johnson,Talawa off ices London,21 February1998. English Plays Johnson 289
Whilst the languagehad reachedthe audience,the issuethat had grabbedthis particular audiencemember's attention was an echoof the issueswhich are dealt with in the folk
Theatreof the Oliver Samuelsstyle work.44 We do not know if Shakespearehad ever
intendedthese lines to be performedby a black Edmund.Had Edmundbeen white would the woman in the audiencehave madea similar comment?Had it beena white production
would this particular woman have goneat all? For the presentwriter the attendanceof a
vocal black female audience member suggeststhat Talawa's appeal was not lessened(in
termsof attractingits black audience)by performinga classicalwork.
What is generallyseen from the above,is that within this genreTalawa under Brewster's
direction appearunwilling to aim at breakingnew theatricalboundaries, in terms of
performancestyle and range.Bearing in mind the fact that the companycan be seento
haveconstantly broken boundaries in British theatreit would perhapsseem natural that it
would do the sameon a creativelevel in all genresof its work. It is also possiblethat the
companywould be able to do so without focusingon the blacknessof its performers.In
spite of outsideexpectations of exoticism Talawa continuedto work within the genre.
Forthree weeks from I to 18November 1995 Talawa presented its nineteenthproduction
andthird attemptat English classicaldrama in the form of John Ford's 1633Jacobean
drama,'Ps pity she's a ivhore. With this third productionand againwhat appearsto be no 1ý major attemptto put a recognisableTalawa stampon it, it may be suggestedthat Talawa
intendedto remind the British public the companywas at liberty to perform what it wanted
44 The work of Oliver Samuelsand companyis discussedin contrastto Talawa's performing of the classics in ChapterThree. EnglishPlays Johnson 290 to. On the other hand the comments of some critics suggestthat the production may have exhibiteda lack of clarity in termsof what Talawawas trying to achieve:'History will applaud Talawa for its many ground-breaking coups de theatre, but this is certainly not 45 one of them. And, 'Whatever Talawa director Yvonne Brewster was aiming for - despite programme notes - remains obscured and the result is desperatelywide of the mark. 946
How much of this kind of mainstreamresponse is due to obviousAfro/Caribbean referencesnot being met by Talawa's efforts is not clear. Given the potentialthat the critics appearto haveseen in the prospectof a black British theatrecompany performing
Shakespeareit may be suggestedthat the mainstreamexhibited a mild frustrationwith
Talawa'sconventional performance. Whilst the critics do not define what it is that they expectedfrom Talawa,possibly through fear of unwittingly brandingthe companywith black theatricalstereotypes, their responsemakes it clear that what they were presented with did not inspirethem.
For the presentwriter perhapsthe most valuablefactor regardingTalawa's continued performanceof suchwork was that black perfon-nerswere (relatively regularly) being given the opportunityto work in this area.Talawa's performancealso highlightedthe need to give black perfon-nersexposure in speechand languagetraining for this genre.From
Talawa's archival video of Ms Pily She's a Whore,the companycan be seento be imitating the classicalEnglish speechstyle appropriatefor a traditional performanceof the
45 Phil Gilby, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore', Stage,9 November1995, p. 12. 46John O'Mahony, "Tis Pity She'sa Whore', Time Out, 8-15 November1995, p. 133. EnglishPlays Johnson 291
play. In the presentwriters view however,the actorslaunch into oral stereotypesof actors
playing classicalroles, with classicalvoices, '... the acting doesnot havethe passionto
matchthe picturesqueness.Almost everyonein Parmais guilty of underactingor
overacting.,47 Perhaps it was this kind of performanceof the company'sverbal repertoire
that encouragedcritics to be disappointedas well as hopethat Talawawould take
advantageof its wide rangingAfro/Caribbean voice to enhanceits performanceand
ultimately produceoriginal work in this area.
The under/overacting referredto aboveis seenin Talawa's productionin particularwhen
actorsplay two charactersand consequentlyuse two ways of speaking.This is seenwith:
Andrew Dennisplaying Grimaldi and Poggio,Simon Clayton playing Bergettoand the
Cardinal,and HassaniShapi who plays both Friar Bonaventuraand Donado. The present
writer suggeststhat the oral acting 'extremes' can be understoodwithin the context of
inexperiencedperformers trying to demonstrateacting versatility and thus play two
charactersas differently as possibleby adoptingcontrasting speech styles for each
characterý8 This approachcan be seento have resultedin the creationof stereotypesrather
than roundedcharacters whose subtleties could havebeen explored through their language
use.
Additionally, with no voice coachfor this piece,any difficulties that Talawa's performers
experiencedwith the languagecould not be referredto a specialist.For the presentwriter
it is ironic that a concertedeffort is madeto get the pronunciationof the Italian names
47 Anon, 'Pity it's a bore', The Times,4 November 1995,p. 19. 48 Brewsterhad decided to useseveral new performersin the production. EnglishPlays Johnson 292 correct,leaving the restof the script to falter. The overriding feeling is that the actors strugglewith the text, do not understandthe subtletiesof the play and consequentlyit is impossiblefor them to expressthem. This notion is reflectedin the reviewsof the show:
And whenthe action takesplace the readingof the lines is
often undistinguished.Giovanni and Annabellaseem content to
deliver their words without injecting passion and they are not
49 alone in failing to fire the scri pt.
And,
othershave barely graspedtheir lines and display nothing
50 more than a grim determinationto reachthe end.
For the presentwriter, despitethe negativecommentary a positive outcomecan be gained from it. It is importantto note that the critics do not appearto commenton any perceived generallack of ability of the performersbut focus on their particular performancein this production.The commentsalso illustrate what appearsto be the performers'lack of experiencein what is acknowledgedas a difficult areaof performancework. Onceagain the importanceof what Talawa is doing by giving its performersacting opportunitiesin this genreis highlighted.
On a more positive notethe left wing presscongratulate the performanceof the most seniorand establishedmember of the castas well as Talawa's tackling the classics:
49 Phil Gilbey, "Tis Pity She's a Whore', Stage, 9 November 1995, p. 12. 50 John Mahoney, "Tis Pity She's a Whore', Time Out, 8-15 November 1995, p. 133. EnglishPlays Johnson 293
Don Warrington'sexcellent Vasques shows us how pitifully
underusedhe was in 'Rising Damp', and what a crying shame
it is there haven't beengood television roles sincehe playedthat
good-naturedtoken black man smiling amiablyat the prejudices
of thosearound him. But then how manytelevision roles havethere 51 been since then for good actors who happen to be black?
Michaels's comments point to what may appear to be a gulf between an excellent actor who happensto be black and the limited work they get becauseof their colour. Despite her questionbeing abouttelevision the samemay be askedof British theatre.The responsein both caseswould be a few if any at all. For the presentwriter Michaels's commentis hearteningas it is a recognitionfrom the mainstreamthat good black performersexist and that they are underusedby the mainstream.This strengthens the casefor Talawa and other performancecompanies whose actors are excluded by the mainstreamto createtheir own forum for developingthe widest rangeof experiencein theatrical genres.
Finally Gardenercomments:
Perhapsit's not an inspiredproduction but it is an intelligent
and eminentlywatchable one, and it's a pleasureto seeTalawa
consolidatingits reputationfor tackling the classicsand developing
a coherentperformance style. 52 EnglishPlays Johnson 294
This positiveresponse, though pointing to the fact thereare problems with the
production(without dwelling on them), choosesto take an actively encouraging
approachby focusingon what can be consideredto be goodabout Talawa's efforts.
From the presentwriter's understandingof the commentthere appears to be an
acknowledgementthat Talawa's work, and particularly within this genre,is new, finding
its feet and maturing.Perhaps most important is the fact that Gardnerappears to both
welcome Talawa's work and give the impression that it has a place on the British
stage.This kind of overt mainstream support (although limited) for Talawa's work in
this areamay havebeen a factor in the company'sdecision to continueperforming
Englishclassics as part of its varied performancerepertoire. This chaptercontinues to
examineTalawa's achievementsin this areaby analysingtwo of Talawa's later
performanceswithin this genre.
51 MelissaMichaels, "Tis Pity She'sa Whore,' What's in London,8 November1995, 54. 52 on p. Lyn Gardner,"Tis Pity She'sa Whore', Guardian, 7 November1995, p. s2.1 0. EnglishPlays Johnson 295
PartTwo - The Plqys
The Importance of Being Earnest
Talawapresented its version of the OscarWilde classicat The Tyne Theatre,Newcastle andThe BloomsburyTheatre, London, between19 April and 13 May 1989.The productionalso touredthe U.K. and was Talawa's fifth productionin total.
Unlike British mainstreamtheatre companies generally, Talawa can be seento havelearnt to have a specific aim, beyond the purely creative for doing work in the classical genre.
This is perhapsdue to the possibility that the companymay have felt that it would haveto justify its work in this areaor any work that was not 'obviously black'. In addition to entertainingits audience,Talawa's productionof TheImportance ofBeing Earnestaimed 53 'to try and impressthe British theatricalcommunity with their own text.
The fact that Talawa's aim is apparentfor this productionmay also be linked to the fact 54 that the companywas working in this areafor the first time. TheImportance of Being
Earnesthad beenpreceded by three Caribbeanand one African productionand was groundbreakingin that it movedTalawa. away from the kinds of so called 'black' work that the companyhad becomeassociated with. It would potentially attractnew audiences, as well as help Talawa,to becomeestablished in the mainstreamas the only black British theatrecompany performing 'English' works.
53 Interviewwith Ben Thomas(playing Algernon in this production)by David Johnson,Thomas's London home,3 September2000. 54 It shouldbe notedthat Wild's TheImportance of Being Earnest(though the work of an Irishman) is discussedunder English playswithin the contextof Talawa. EnglishPlays Johnson 296
Apart from mainstream attention this first foray into the classical genre would also stand to provide new opportunities for black actors. Whilst there is little contemporary documentedevidence that black performersare not deemedsuitable for classicalroles the fact they hardly appearin them on the British stagemay suggestthat they are either incapable of doing them or that they are not being selected for other reasons.James comments,'We are not even given a chanceto fail, which is why this companyis so important in allowing black actors a chance at the classical.'55
With black actorsin 'white roles' Talawa,provided evidenceof the genuinepossibility of what the presentwriter refersto as 'colour crossover'in theatre.This crossoverwhilst on a practical level (in the caseof Talawa) is the straightforwardmovement of physicallyblack actorsinto roles historically playedby whites on the British stage,the impact on the black performersmay not be as straightforward,'You had to remind yourself especiallywith this black it intendedfor, all production ... you are not the people was you are yourself .. so you must useyour own life as the emotionalbedrock for the characters.' 56
Thomas'snotion that this type of work was not intendedfor black perfortnersmay have
put an additional burdenon Talawato producea particularly impressiveperformance
despitethe fact that it was the company'sfirst attemptat this kind of work. For the present
writer this highlights what he regardsas Talawa's 'pioneeringburden. ' As there are so few
black theatrecompanies each time the companyperforms, the work hasto be exemplaryor
it may be quickly disregardedby the mainstream.With the English plays Talawa hashad
53 Keith Duston,'Importance of being Oscar', SundaySun, 9 April 1989,p. 27. Duston is quoting Oscar James. EnglishPlays Johnson 297 to be determinedin its resolveto demonstratethat it has both the right and ability to performall work that makesup its multicultural theatricalheritage. Part of this conviction is in belief '. black do the company's that, .. you can as a theatrecompany what supposedlyis English work and it still works.'57
This ideais highlighted by the Victorian natureof the play that can be seenboth to support and rejectTalawa's performanceof the work. Whilst much of the story line and performanceof Victorian mannersin the play seemto have little in commonwith black people,it can be shownthat somecentral aspects of Victorian thought are mirrored by
Talawaand perhapspoint to the relevanceof the companyperforming such work. For the presentwriter the most obvious is the Victorian notion that man hasthe power to
58 effect and positively changehis environment. Talawa cameinto existencebecause the
foundingmembers were discontentedwith the limited work that British theatrehad to
offer black performers.Once Talawa had establisheditself as a companythat primarily
focusedon black work it maintainedcontrol of its own future by launchingitself into the
classicalgenre whilst continuingto work within the genresof African, Caribbeanand
Americanplays. Additionally, Talawa's work in this areahaving introducedmany
performersand audiences(both black and white) to the idea of black actorsperforming a
rangeof roles demonstrateswhat the presentwriter regardsas Brewsterencouraging black
theatrepractitioners to work in all areasof British theatre.This behaviourcan be linked to
56Interview with Ben Thomas by David Johnson, Thomas's London home, 3 September 2000. 57Ibid. 5' Seeinternet site: http://landow. sta. brown. edu/victorian/vn/victor4. htmi - Victorian and Victorianism- 02/09/00 - GeorgeP. Landow states,'In scienceand technology,the Victorians inventedthe modemidea of invention-the notion that one can createsolutions to problems,that man can createnew meansof bettering himself and his environment.' EnglishPlays Johnson 298 what Landow describes as a key characteristic of the Victorians, 'More than anything else what makesVictorians Victorian is their senseof social responsibility., 59
Talawa'sdecision to do the performancecan be further understoodwhen comparedto the fact that Wilde as an Irishmanwas laughingat the English in his play. The contemporary laughcan be seento rest with Talawa as the English are ridiculed by both the Irish and blacksin Talawa's production,the very peoplethe Victorians can be seento haveregarded as least fitting of being Victorians.
Whilst Talawamay appearto be Victorian in naturein someareas, it is the Victorian dislike of the abovegroups however, that encouragesthe presentwriter to question
Talawa'sdecision for doing the production.Black peopleduring the Victorian era (and perhapsfor a long time after due to how theseattitudes had beenembedded into the psycheof the British people)suffered very low statusin Britain. Blackswere regarded, alongwith the Irish and other 'lower classes'in Victorian scienceand literatureas:
Unreasonable,irrational and easily excited
Childlike
Having no religion but only superstition
Criminal: no respectfor private property,no notions of property
Excessivelysexual
Filthy
Inhabitantsof unknowndark lands or territories.60
59 Ibid. EnglishPlays Johnson 299
This would not be reflected in Talawa's performance that followed rather than adaptedthe be script. In spite of the negatives above Brewster is clear about why the work should
done:
Black theatrehas as many facetsas any other sort of theatre,
and the ambitionsheld by black theatrepractitioners are probably
not much different from anyoneelse in this challengingbusiness;
but becauseopportunities for realisingthese ambitions are much
fewer and certainly farther apart,so much dependson the successor
failure of everyendeavour. This is evenmore true if the black theatre
practitioneris attemptingto interpretwhat hasbeen seen for centuries
as the rightful propertyof others.It is important,indeed vital, that the
black companiescontinue to celebrateand to investigatethe wealth of
non Europeanmaterial which exists as this is the ultimate sourceof their
inspiration.However, always to be expectedto defendone's work from
the everpresent question, HOW RELEVANT IS THIS TO YOU?,
(meaningif the obvious connectionof colour is not immediately
apparent,the matterof commonhumanity is irrelevant) is
debilitating and suggeststhat the questionerwould prefer us to
exist culturally in a cocoon.The good and greatwork from all
culturesbelongs to everyone.A Wole Soyinkaplay shouldbe as
60 Seeinternet site: http://landow. stiz. brown. edu/victorian/histo! 3ý/race/rcov. htmi - Raceand Class Overview: Parallelsin Racismand Class Prejudice, by Anthony S. Wohl - 02/09/00 Seealso, DouglasLorimer, Colour, Classand the Victorians:English attitudesto the Negro in the mid- nineteenthcentury (Leicester: Leicester University Press,1978). English Plays Johnson 300
important a source of inspiration to the Nonvegians as Strindberg is
to the English.61
Additionally, the programmeinformation, mentioning two black performersoffers a scant
but interestinghistory of black performanceon the British stage,stating just how long 62 black peoplehave been doing this kind of theatrework for. The presentwriter questions
whetherthese black performerswould havebeen allowed to perform on the British stage
in their time, if their performancework was anythingless than outstanding?Given the
degreeof known prejudiceto black peopleat the time it is possiblethat they would have
mirrored or betteredthose of their white contemporaries.
Talawa's programmeinformation continuesby addingwhat is seenby the presentwriter
as a challengeto contemporaryBritish theatre, 'The successof these2 black men seems
to suggestthat Englandprovided a safeand creativehaven for the talent of black
performersin the I gthCentury. We wish to test this theory in 1989.63
It is unlikely that the contemporarytheatrical mainstream would wish to be perceivedas
having movedbackwards politically, particularly at a time (the late 1980s)when Britain
can be seento have beenaiming to be more politically correctthan at any other time in its
61 6. See Talawa production archives for The Importance of Being Earnest - production programme, p. 62Ibid. I Ira Aldridge, born New York 1807,died Lodz, Poland 1867,first actedin Englandin 1782and by the end of a successfulcareer, which spannedfour decadeshe had playedRichard 111,Shylock, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello and most of the major Shakespeareanroles hereand in Europe. SamuelMorgan Smith, born PhiladelphiaUSA 1833,died Sheffield England1882, arrived in England from Americato set up his own theatrecompany in Gravesendof all placesin 1866,and successfully in from Shakespeare ' produced63 and acted a wide rangeof plays to contemporarywork. Ibid. EnglishPlays Johnson 301 recenthistory. ContemporaryBritish audiencesthen were challenged(perhaps unfairly) to Victorian acceptthese black performersdepicting life in the shires,English mannersand valuesor be accusedof racism.Sadly, this was perhapsone of the only waysthat the companyfelt that it would be able to encouragea lively responseto the show.
In spiteof what may be seenas forcing the audience'shand the audienceresponse to the productionwas as varied as the rangeof work that Talawadoes:
have It was a wonderful response..I think that theremight
beensome particularly ethnic orientatedcomments about how
but could black peopleplay this obviously white play. . when did it in they saw the confidencethat we .. one of the reviews best I've had I didn't which for me was one of my ever ... and it 'Ben Thomasis blue even understandwhat meant. . said more 64 book than any actor I have seenbefore.
The book referredto is the book of Victorian mannersthat actedas a handbookof middle
classVictorian behaviour.The fact that Thomaswas apparentlyso adeptat displaying
them points to the possibility of how easily the appropriatemanners may be learntby
peopleof other racesand classes.This in effect can be seento challengethe worthiness
and pride that white Victorians gavethis behaviourand also points to the arbitrarinessof
the Victorian codesof good breeding.
64Interview with Ben Thomasby David Johnson,Thomas's London home, 3 September2000. EnglishPlays Johnson 302
The mediaresponse can be seento have echoedsome of Thomas'sperceptions above.
Rentoncomments, 'I cannotremember another where the actorsseemed to performand live eachscene with suchease. 65 Similarly Issacsstates, 'The standardof the performanceis high.ý66 Other critics can be seento have ignoredthe performancesand focused on various aspects of what they appear to see as a colour issue. As Talawa had not soughtto highlight any suchthemes in the performancethe presentwriter suggests this type of commentarymaterialised purely becausethe productionof this 'white play' hadan all black cast.
De Jonghbelieves that, 'Short of finding herself in bed with a manservantor two, Lady
Bracknellcould scarcelyhave envisagedanything worse than to find herselfand her associatesbeing impersonated by blacks.67 For the present writer, De Jongh's suggested notion of 'impersonation'hints that the black actorsare playing at being somethingthat is entirely foreign to black existenceand that it is somethingthat they shouldperhaps not choseto do as part of their performancerepertoire. There is no reasongiven for this opposition other than that Wilde's fictional character would not have liked it. What the critic imaginesare Lady Bracknell's feelingsmay also be representativeof the mainstream pressas yet unwilling to understandthe relevanceof suchwork to a companylike Talawa, and highlights someof the negativenotions that Talawa may havebeen up againstin putting the productionon.
65Alex Renton,'Something Wilde', Independent,18 May 1989, 18. 66 p. David Issacs,'Skills sweepdoubt away'. Journal, 21 April 1989.The pagenumber of the article is unavailable.See references to review in the Journal by Uju Aslka in ChapterFive. The presentwriter possessesa copy of the article without the pagenumber. 303 EnglishPlays Johnson
Equally,Armistead's suggestion points to thediscomfort that the white theatre establishmentappears to feelwhen offered black work thatit mayregard as not being blackenough:
There is something oddly disarming about seeingthe black
theatre establishment investing time, talent and energy in a play that
is so much a part of white theatre tradition, without any perceivable 68 intention to subvert or reinterptret it. '
What is not being recognisedis that this work is equallypart of black theatretraditions both in Britain and internationally.For the presentwriter that mainstreamtheatre critics shouldshow a lack of awarenessof the theatricalimpact of colonisationis perhapsa reasonwhy companieslike Talawashould continue to work within this genre.Perhaps
British colonisationconsisted of forcing nativesof Africa and the Caribbeanto be stripped of everythingbut their indigenoustheatre?
Additionally, both De Jonghand Armistead'scomments (in the parts of their reviews quotedabove) may be seento suggestthey imaginethat black British theatrepractitioners are divorced from traditional British theatreto the degreethat they shouldnever want to perform it in its original form. If black British theatrepractitioners can expectonly to be by accepted the theatricalmainstream if their performancework is culture specificthe
67Nicholas De Jongh, 'The Importance of Being Earnest', Guardian, 18 May 1989, p.28. 68Claire Armistead, 'The Importance Being of Earnest', Financial Times, 18 May 1989, p.27. Johnson 304 EnglishPlays
feel just British possible backlash of this is that artistically these practitioners will never without the 'black'.
bemusedby this The presentwriter questionswhat may appearto be what thosewho are kind of performanceperceive as a lack of impacton the part of British societyon those is black peoplethat havebeen born and raisedhere. In this contexttheir blackness not seen aspart of their bi-cultural existence,but mistakenly,in the view of the presentwriter as 'Oh the entiretyof their being. Barkerquotes Brewster citing a white audiencemember, it is mahdeahh! I reahhlydon't know what they are going to do with this, because so
utterly, utterly English.969
In a pressrelease before the production,Brewster stated, 'My aim is not to attempta , 70 WestIndian version of the play but to stagethis OscarWilde classicwith black actors.
Brewsterwould however,need to concentrateon an areaof the performancethat would 71 presentthe performersas English upper middle classVictorians without being white.
For the presentwriter, Brewstercan be seento have beensupported by the fact that
the languageof the text leant itself to achievingthis goal. This notion is demonstratedby
the fact that shedoes not changethe languageof the text at all. Additionally De Jongh
comments,'The revelationof this production is that the sight of black actorsinhabiting
the skinsand minds of uppermiddle classwhite Victorians doesnot seemstrange or 72 perverse.As long as they soundright you acceptthem. Elocution transcendscolour.
69Dennis Barker, 'A black look at Oscar Wilde', Guardian, 13 May 1989, p.2. 70 Pressrelease for the production. SeeTalawa production archives for The importance of Being Earnest - ublicity file. Interview with Yvonne Brewster by David Johnson, Talawa offices London, 4 September 2000. 305 EnglishPlays Johnson
is first The text written in 'standardEnglish' should presentno difficulties (as this their African official language)to the black British performers.Unlike the Caribbeanand plays African/ which requirethe performersto readtext which approximatesthe necessary
Caribbeanvoice in a style of writing that the performeris likely not to havemuch experienceof. Before coming to Talawa black British perfon-nerswill often haveworked mainly with 'standardEnglish' written forms and will thereforebe usedto the written languageof TheImportance ofBeing Earnest.For the presentwriter, the black British performersshould also be able to identify the requiredvoice of the text as that of the white
Englishupper middle class.
Thereis however,what appearsto be a constantstruggle to achievethe uppermiddle class
Englishvoice from someof the black British performers.In the performancesof Gary
McDonaldplaying Jack Worthing and JuanitaWaterman playing Gwendolen,the accents
waver,the former from black British to a slightly cockneysound, the latter from the
requiredupper middle classsound to a distinct cockneyvoice. In the sameway difficulties
emergein the voice of the character,Lane, the Manservant,played by ChristopherTajah.
He speakswith a generalnorthern voice. This gives rise to problemsin the stereotypical
soundhe createsas the voice fast becomesindistinct in its exaggeratedform. This in turn
leadsto a lack of oral realismand consequentlybecomes difficult to understand.
For the present writer, the question is why these black British performers demonstrate
difficulty in achieving accurate linguistic performances of an aspect of their own language.
What may be seen as their 'lack of Englishness' in this area may appear to provide a shred
72Nicholas De Jongh, 'The Importanceof BeingEarnest, Guardian, 18 May 1989,p. 28. EnglishPlays Johnson 306 of truth for the notion (mentionedand dismissed)above that someblack Britons are somehowable to live separatelyfrom the rest of British societyalthough they are an integralpart of it.
Of the non-black British performers Oscar James as the Reverend remains (to the British ear) consistentlyWest Indian in tone, as the voice produced(from the presentwriter's perspective) is reminiscent of a general middle class Caribbean sound. Amongst the possiblereasons for James'schosen voice may be that he doesnot know how his character shouldsound, or he is unableto reproducethe voice. Whilst it may be arguedthat absolute linguistic accuracymay not be as importantas a clear demonstrationof the linguistic intent, the presentwriter maintainsthat accuracyis important in all aspectsof the work of a pioneeringperformance group that (as in the caseof Talawa) can alreadybe seento be undervaluedby the mainstream.The productionof work that setsitself up for negative criticism by being inaccuratewill possibly be seento justify its lessthan favourable treatmentby the mainstream.In the presentwriter's view this could in turn leadto bad
reviews,poor audienceattendance, a lack of funding and the ultimate demiseof the
company.
Not all of the actorshowever demonstrated the aforementioneddifficulty with the
languageof the text as both black British and West Indian performerscan be shownto
haveproduced 'accurate' (in the traditional context of the performancevoices used for The
ImportanceofBeing Earnest)voice work. De Jonghcomments, 'Ben Thomas' elegant EnglishPlays Johnson 307
Algernon Moncrief, a smoothaesthete done out in a crisp moustacheand creamsuit, managesthe authenticWildean noise and cultivatesthe right langourand artifice. 73
Thomasexplains that he is able to producethe appropriatevoice as:
I am a particularly Anglicized black man. I am quite an English
Englishmandespite coming from Yorkshire... which allowed me
not to be worried aboutthe text in any shapeor form as it was familiar
I into being to me ... was ableto relax the other actors not afraid of that familiar I what text was about .. words that they weren't with and 74 was.
Along with Ben ThomasJamaican Leonie Forbesdemonstrates that part of a performers job is to be able to adoptthe appropriatevoice for the characterthey areplaying. Forbes producesan accuratevoice in her role as Miss Prism despitenot being British or living in
England.For the presentwriter this points to the fact that wheresome black British performersare still in the processof developingtheir craft thereare other black performers who are able to achieveaccurate oral performancesin playing a traditionally white character.
For the presentwriter, the useof accentto createVictorian charactersthat are black can be seento haveworked with thoseperformers such as Thomasand Forbeswho were able to producethe 'correct' recognisedsound. These performers demonstrated that they were
73 Ibid. 74 Interviewwith Ben Thomasby David Johnson,Thomas's London home,30 August 2000. EnglishPlays Johnson 308 able to accommodate their language to suit the upper middle class Victorian charactersof the script, and simultaneouslyillustrate their verbal repertoire.As this skill was not seen cast-widethe presentwriter suggeststhat therewas a dangerthat this strategymay have goneunnoticed. This in turn could havemade the characterson the whole, appearquite
'traditionally' un-Victorian both becauseof their skin colour and their inaccurate elocution.
Due to Talawa's decisionto concentrateon what may be seenas its right and
$nativeness'to perform the play without changingany of the languageof the original
text, sentencesin the play can be seento havetaken on a new meaningas the actorswere
black, andthe play was performedin a contemporarysetting.
WhenWilliams's Cecily tells Thomas'sAlgernon, 'What wonderfully blue eyesyou
have', followed by 'I hopeyour hair curls naturally', the audienceresponse is one of
laughter.The comedyis in the fact that Thomasdoes not haveblue eyesand indeedas a
black man hashair that curls naturally. Perhapsin Talawa's (unintended)context she is
askinghim if he is a real black man as this is what shereally wants for herselfand she
regardshair texture as one way of gaugingthe particular black authenticityshe requires.
For the presentwriter, there is further irony in Williams's Cecily's latter commentas
Thomas,at the time of Talawa's performancehas artificially curled hair as it is permcd.
Thomasexplains, 'This is anotherAfro/Caribbean sort of problemabout hair curl being EnglishPlays Johnson 309
black in that more straight and so on ... so when people were the audience meant much
, 75 to them ..
WhenWilliams's Cecily later states,'When I seea spadeI call it a spade'to which
Waterman'sGwendolen replies, 'I am glad to saythat I havenever seen a spade'the racial connotationsfor the British audienceare many, '.. half of the audienceare screamingwith delight, the black half, the other half are sayingdo they realisewhat they just Cecily is 'When I I it 76Following said then .. saying seea nigger call a nigger. Thomas'ssuggestion Waterman's Gwendolen's later commentof 'I'm glad to say I've neverseen a spade'could presumablymean for Talawa's audience,'I'm glad to sayI've neverseen a nigger.'
What is clear for the presentwriter is the rangeof interpretationTalawa leaves its productionopen to by using the original languagewith black perfomers. Whilst this in itself is not problematic,creating a productionwith multiple interpretationsmay leavethe audienceand critics wonderingif Talawa,had a specifically detailedset of aims for its production.It is also possiblethat by not changingthe language,Talawa can be seento be
simply sayingthat in doing the work the companyis rising abovethe 'superficial' as the
meaningof the text is clear. In the presentwriter's opinion however,it is unthinkablethat
the inherent'racist' natureof the languageof the text, as understoodby a contemporary
audienceand expressedby black performers,can be transferredto a black castwithout
affectingthe original meaning.
75 Ibid. 76 Ibid. EnglishPlays Johnson 310
The above quotes from the production may also raise the question of why Talawa should want to present 'white' plays without adapting, or bringing controlled attention to them, and additionally,may promotean ideathat in the eyesof the mainstreamthis is not appropriate work for these black performers. The latter notion is expressedby David
Issacs's summing up of the media responseand the expressions of doubt that he came across about the production, 'I feel bound to say, however, that some of them have also 77 been tinged with malice and expressedin tones overtly raciSt., Issacs's comment suggeststhat the racist attitude towards Talawa's production of the The Importance of
Being Earnest was being expressedby the mainstream loud enough for critics who did not sharethe sameopinion to both know about it and feel it importantenough to commenton it in their own reviews. This perhapsgives a clearerindication of the oppositionto
Talawa'sproduction than is voiced in the reviews.
In spite of the 'conflict' betweenthe black skin of the performersand the languageof the text Talawa'sresolve to do the productionwas beneficial in at leasttwo areas.Firstly, it showedthat if blackactors were given the chancesome could prove themselvesjust as capableas somewhite actorsof delivering a classicaltext. Secondly,it would impacton other black theatrecompanies:
I think it (the work) bumpedthem (Talawa)up on the stakes
really. It meantthat theremight be a credible competitionnow
the other thing was that the other black theatrecompanies that
77 David Issacs,'Skills sweepdoubt away', Journal, 21 April 1989.See footnote 66 for explanationof missingpage reference. EnglishPlays Johnson 311
existedin thosedays and don't now got extra confidencethat they
be in do 78 could experimentaltoo whateverthey wantedto ..
For the presentwriter, (aswell as possiblyencouraging others) whether Talawa knew it at the time or not, it was setting itself up with the performanceof this productionto produce
furtherwork within this genre.On the level of innovationalone Talawa can be seento havecast a net that would allow its performancerepertoire to incorporatewhatever work
the companywanted to do. By the time the companydecided to do a productionof Othello
in 1997(almost a decadeafter its original foray into English plays)Talawa's audienceand
the mainstreamhad cometo expectthe unexpectedfrom the companyalong with
intermittentperformances of plays from the classicalgenre. EnglishPlays Johnson 312
PartTwo - The Plqys Othello
Talawa'sproduction of Shakespeare'sOthello ran from 9 Octoberto I November1997 at
The Drill Hall, London.This was Talawa'stwenty third productionin total and its fifth work within the classicalgenre.
By the time Talawaperformed Othello the companyhad beenin existencefor twelve years.During this period many black theatrecompanies had comeand gonewhere Talawa had 79The the for Talawa's longevity remained. presentwriter suggeststhat part of reason was due to the fact that the companywas innovativein the natureof its creativework, markedperhaps not leastby its occasionalforays into classicalperformance. Whilst performingShakespeare was no longera novelty for Talawaa productionof Othello however,could be regardedslightly differently becauseof the fact that of all
Shakespeare'splays Othello was perhapsthe most obviousone for the companyto do. The fact that a new black companychoosing to do it would perhapshave been predictable may explainwhy Talawadid not performthe play until the companywas well established.
WhenTalawa decided to do Othello the productioncould then seemlong awaitedrather than expected.
78Interview with Ben Thomasby David Johnson,Thomas's London home,3 September2000. 79Anon, 'Black TheatreBritish Theatre',Prompt, 14 August 1998,pp. 8-9, 'In 1988Dr. ElizabethClarke was commissionedby the Arts Council to makea report into Black Theatrein England,which neverproceeded past the draft phaseto allow for public scrutiny.The report did however identify somethirty Englishtheatre companies in receiptof varying amountsof public subsidy,happy to call themselvesblack or Asian. Ten yearson, only a fraction of this numberstill exist. There are now only four revenuefunded companies: two black; two Asian.' EnglishPlays Johnson 313
Havingdecided to take on the productionTalawa can be seento havemade clear decisions on how its productionwould be contemporaryyet differ to thosethat had gonebefore it.
This canfirstly be seenin Talawa'sdecision on who to castin the roles of Desdemonaand
Othelloand how they would be portrayed.
Brewster's decision to cast Paula Stockbridge as Desdemonacreated unforeseenproblems for Talawa.The Drill Hall's Artistic Director, Julie Parkerwas concemedthat Talawa's choicemay leadto what the presentwriter interpretsas Parker'sfears of negativepublicity for the productionwhich would in turn impact on The Drill Hall:
Your letter seeksa written assurancethat no "quasi"
characterisationof the Princessof Waleswill be presentedor
". Andeed direct indirect her . any or references"to will be made. None It has been Creative will ...... never the view of the
Teamor intimatedby any memberof our staff, that the characterisation
of Desdemonabe that of "a quasiPrincess Diana". 80
As the productionopened shortly after the deathof HRH PrincessDiana the creative
managementof The Drill Hall's concernabout possiblereferences being madeto her
throughStockbridge's Desdemona was realistic. For the presentwriter, this was
conceivabledue to the fact that in Talawa's productionStockbridge's Desdemona wears
army fatigueswhilst at seaand can be seento be reminiscentof the late PrincessDiana
80 Letterfrom Yvonne Brewsterto Julie Parker(Artistic Director of The Drill Hall), 2 October 1997.See Talawaproduction archives for Oihello - correspondencefile. EnglishPlays Johnson 314
be have crossing minefields. Princess Diana and Stockbridge's Desdemonacan seento a
further link in the love that they each have for a black man that arguably leads to their
death. Whilst Talawa maintains that it did not intend to cash in on the death of the
Princess,this may be questionedwhen it is shownthat the companyhad chosento base
aspectsof its portrayalof Othello on Americanblack sportingsuperstar and suspected
murdererOJ Simpson.81 As the companywas clear in its aim to useOJ Simpsonas an
inspirationfor its leadingmale the notion of Talawa's Desdemonabeing basedon Princess
Diana appearsmore likely.
Talawa'sproduction programme consists almost entirely of the specificallydesigned 82 researchpackage that comparesOthello and the OJ Simpsontrial. The lengthsthat
Talawacan be seento havegone to here,to highlight the comparisonssuggest to the
presentwriter that Talawawanted to cashin on the publicity of the OJ Simpsontrial and
83 createa controversialbackdrop for its work. This said,whilst connotations(suspected or
real) of HRH The Princessof Walesand OJ Simpsonmay permeateTalawa's production
and suggestsome of the company'saims in doing Othello, for the presentwriter it is
Brewster'scolour castingthat gives a clearerpicture of Talawa's aim to makethe work
inimitably its own.
81Simpson's 1997 trial for the murderof his white wife Nichole Simpsonwas and remainsone of the longestand most publicisedtrials in North Americanhistory. 82The researchpackage produced for Talawa's productionof Othello madeup ninety percentof all additionalnon-advertising and biographicalinformation of the productionprogramme. The packageconsists of an unpublishedessay by Austin Clarke, 'Orenthal and Othello: Phobogenicstatements made in the openingstatement and in the prologueof the play, Othello', 1997. 83Austin Clarke, 'Orenthaland Othello', p.23. All of the comparisonsallude to what the presentwriter regardsas attemptsto showhow both men replacecultural 'blackness'with 'whiteness'. For examplelike Othello, Simpsonis having' his his Clarke 'This seenas . _erased oppositenesswith speech.' continues, 6white' voice, or this 'whitening' of speech,which is more than an articulation of language,is the deliberate attemptto be clothedin the colonialist's rhetoric and culture.' EnglishPlays Johnson 315
As seenabove when Talawais givenaccolades the companyis often referredto as 'black'.
This definition then marksan importantpart of the company'sbeing. What is immediately 84 evidentin this productionhowever, is the fact that the castalso contains white members.
The presentwriter suggeststhat Brewster'sdecision to usewhite performersmay be seen as an initiative to complement the traditionally white roles that she had given to black performers in the production. This would allow Talawa to pursue two possible aims.
Firstly, the companywould be ableto makeoriginal statementson the racial dynamicsof the charactersin its performance.Secondly, it would enablethe companyto use its performanceto highlight and challengestereotypes that persistaround black people.
In this context,changing the traditional physicalappearance of Othello can be seenas
Brewster'sconsistency with the aims suggestedabove. In white performanceswhere the notion appearsto be that the blackerthe performerplaying Othello whethernaturally made up or not the better,Brewster presents a mixed raceOthello in Ben Thomas.
For the presentwriter Thomas'sOthello's mixed raceidentity can appearto water down the effect of Shakespeare's'racist' languagein Talawa's production.This is seenin the fact that Othello's negativetraits, attributedto his physicalblackness, do not describethe light-skinnedOthello we seebefore us. What is understoodfrom Talawa's production however,is that the white charactersin using negativelanguage in referenceto Thomas's
Othello's blacknessare anglingto find ways of making him an outsideralthough his skin colour is not far removedfrom their own. In AmericanisingThomas's Othello, Brewster
84 The following roles are playedby white performers:Brabantio (Peter Mair), Desdemona(Paula Stockbridge),lago (Dominic Letts), Lodovico (PeterMair), and Rodrigo(Ian Driver). 316 EnglishPlays Johnson
him to achievesthe effect of makinghim soundlike theoutsider the white characters need be.
Talawa's In addition to casting Othello as a mixed race man the greatestimpact on production as a direct result of colour casting is where central characters(that are normally by black played by white actors in traditional British performances of the play) are played 85 performers.
For the presentwriter the fact that Buffong's Cassiois also black meansthat perhapstwo of the most prominentand likeablemen in the play areblack. This castingpresents
Talawa'saudience with two positive male role modelsand also diminishesthe degreeto which Buffong's Cassiocan be drawn as good and white in oppositionto Thomas's
Othello's badnessbeing seenas an inherentpart of his blackness.So whilst the two can be comparedin all areason and off the battlefield makingdistinctions between them because of their colour becomesmore difficult. Equally their redeemingfeatures along with what
may be seenas their negativetraits (Thomas'sOthello's jealousy and Buffong's Cassio's
tendencyto drink) cannotbe seento be colour based.
Thereis a colour dynamicthat hasbeen set up by thesetwo charactersbeing playedby
black menthat may suggestthe blackerthe man the betterhis soul. Buffong's Cassiothe
physically blackest man, is the most deservedly victorious by the end of the production.
85Cassio is playedby Michael Buffong, Emilia by SamAdams, and Biancaby AmanthaEdmead. The blacknessof the performerscan be seento changethe dynamicsof the centralrelationships in the play giving manyparts of Talawa'sproduction an entirely original interpretation. EnglishPlays Johnson 317
Directly below him is the light-skinned Thomas's Othello who although has murdered his wife canperhaps be forgiven as he was misled. Below him is the white Letts's lago who hasno redeemingfeatures. With this interpretationof the colour hierarchythe present writer notesa further racial dynamicrelevant to the contemporaryaudience in what may be seenas black on black hatred being instigated and encouragedby white Letts's lago betweenthe two black men, Thomas'sOthello and Buffong's Cassio.
Buffong's Cassio'sphysical blackness also createsnew dynamicswith the other character that he is most connectedto in the production.Buffong's Cassiohaving a relationshipwith
Edmead'sBianca can be seento be castingthe black woman into a negatively stereotypicalrole. As a black prostituteon the British stagewhere black femaleperformers arerarely featuredthe role may appearto be reminiscentof black femaleperformers as sexydancer types. Further negative stereotypes that can be seento surroundthis relationshipmay point to Buffong's Cassiobeing over sexedand immoral and thus seekingthe servicesof a prostitute.Whilst the samemay be said if both charactersare playedby white perfon-nersthey havethe reassurancethat white performersare seenin a rangeof roles. On a more positive note, in his minimal relationshipwith Adams's Emilia,
Buffong's Cassiocan be seento be anothergood black man (including Thomas'sOthello) in the eyesof the lesspowerful black maid.
As suggestedabove the effectsof Talawa's colour castingare not linked to the characters beingplayed by black performersalone. EnglishPlays Johnson 318
Talawa can be seento be making further original statementson racial dynamics by the fact that the male charactersthat the companykeeps white are perhapsthe weakestcharacters in its production.This is seenfirstly in Letts's lago who can be seento havea more generaljealousy of black men than in traditional productionswhere all characters(except perhaps Othello) are white. His jealousy is a psychological weakness,and Talawa add to that weaknessby choosing a white performer who is considerably smaller (physically) than all the black men in the production. Although he causesdeath and destruction in their lives in Talawa's production Letts's lago also unintentionally succeedsin replacing one black General for another and thus empowers another black man. The second is even darkerthan the first.
For the presentwriter there is a further suggestionin Talawa's productionthat Letts's
]ago's problemwith black men is one of a generaljealousy of their status,success and lifestyle. This is coupledwith his frustrationthat he is unableto live up to what can be shownperhaps to be seenas their physicaland sexualprowess. Talawa can be seenhere to havemoved the stereotypeof the black man's physical/sexualpower to beingthe objectof the white man'sjealousy. This is partly demonstratedby the fact that Brewstergives
Letts's lago a black wife.
Within the contextof Talawa's racially mixed productionLetts's lago's generallack of respectof Adams's Emilia (despitehis marriageto her) may appearto be racially engendered.He has little regardfor her as a humanbeing becausehe perhapsdoes not really seeher as his equal.Where in traditional performancesthis may be seenas how he EnglishPlays Johnson 319 is towardswomen, Talawa's productionmay be seento suggestthat her colour causeshim to treather negatively.Perhaps Letts's lago alsotreats her badly as he is unableto mistreat the malemembers of her race.He is after all in a lesspowerful position in societythan they are.On a physicallevel he appearsto be sexuallyabusive as he is violent whilst she remains passive during their lovemaking. During these scenesLetts's lago does however appearnervous of Adams's Emilia as if he is aware that she appearsable to physically dominate him and could perhaps overpower him if she were to choose to do so. As she does not Talawa's audience understandthat she allows him to live what may be seenas a fantasy where he is able to compare himself to the black male sexually and prove himself to be at least their equal in his mind.
Whilst on the one hand Letts's lago may be seento be more racist in Talawa's production
(than in traditional versions,due to his treatmentof Buffong's Cassioand Adams's
Emilia) the argumentis weakenedby the fact that his behaviourtowards the white charactersis no more favourable.This is seenwith his manipulationof Driver's Rodrigo.
Seenperhaps as the other significantwhite man in Talawa's productionDriver's
Rodrigo'sall round weaknessis what helpshim to pale into the background.Brewster
clearlydivides the men into strongand black (Thomas'sOthello and Buffong's Cassio)
andweak and white (Letts's lago and Driver's Rodrigo).This type of male representation
is uncommonin contemporaryBritish theatreand would, in the presentwriter's view,
impactprincipally on the black male audienceunused to seeingthemselves portrayed in
positionsof power.Talawa's productioncan be seenhowever, to have impactedon its EnglishPlays Johnson 320 audiencegenerally and not only on its male members.This is mainly documentedin the company'sarchival video of the production,and in the mediaresponse to the show.
For the presentwriter the company'sarchival footagedemonstrates that Talawa's audiencein going to seethe show can be seento havegone primarily to enjoy themselves.
This is shownby the manyoccurrences of laughterduring the performance,some of which occurat points where sucha responsewould not generallyhave been predicted. Along with outlining wherethe unpredictablelaughter is seenthe ensuinganalysis suggests reasonsto which the responsemay be attributed.
The first incidentof unpredictablelaughter can be shownto haveoccurred when Letts's lagotells Thomas'sOthello of Buffong's Cassio'srelationship with Stockbridge's
Desdemona.He encouragesthe ideathat he has seena relationshipdeveloping between themwith his comment,'Lie with her, on her, what you will. ' For the presentwriter the
audience'slaughter is perhapsa suggestionthat they recognisethis languageas an
accuratedescription of how casuallyblack men may stereotypicallybe seento treat
women.Additionally, if it is acceptedthat someof Talawa's audienceprimarily went to
seethe productionbecause it was the work of a black theatrecompany rather than because
it was Shakespeare,their laughtermaybe seen to have comefrom not knowing what to
expectof a Shakespeareplay. At this point their responsemay havebeen due then both to
embarrassmentand surpriseat the sexualtone of Letts's lago's statementin this theatrical forum. EnglishPlays Johnson 321
The responsemay also illustrate that someof the audiencemembers were perhapsunsure of how they shouldrespond. On the one handwithin the black theatresetting they may havefelt that it was appropriateto havean oral response.On the other hand,the fact that the productionwas Shakespearemay havedampened the extentof their responseif they felt uncertain that laughter was appropriate here. It should also be stated that the response was probably a natural gut reaction to what was seenas entertaining and probably did not causethe audiencemembers who respondedin this way to think abouttheir individual reactions.
Later in Talawa'sproduction when Stockbridge'sDesdemona realises that sheis aboutto be killed and says'l am not yet to die.. ' and Thomas'sOthello respondswith 'Yes
is by laughterfrom presently. . .' this accompanied the audience.In additionto the reasonssuggested above for the first incidentof unpredictablelaughter the responsehere may also be dueto the calmnesswith which the lines are deliveredand suggeststo the presentwriter that the audiencefeel little attachmentto the coupleand are not particularly concernedabout their fate. It may also be suggestedthat Talawa's audiencewhilst becominginvolved (as is seenbelow by the acceptedcalling out during the performance) keepthe show in its perspectiveas a pieceof theatre.They are not overly affectedby the emotionalnature of eventspresented in the performanceas they demonstratea lighter emotionalreaction to the tragedythrough their collective laughter.
Thirdly, laughterwas elicited from the audiencein all situationswhere physical scuffles
occurredand which resultedin one characterbeing madeto look physicallyweaker than EnglishPlays Johnson 322 another.This is seenwhere Thomas's Othello demandsproof of Stockbridge's
Desdemona'sbetrayal. Thomas lifts Letts from the floor with one hand in a showof brute strength.The audiencefind this hilarious and appearto ignoreThomas's Othello's emotionalpain. Similarly, whereDriver's Rodrigotries to kill Buffong's Cassioand fails the laughter points to what the audience may be seento regard as a pathetically failed attempt at aiming to sort out the situation. Again his anguish is ignored in favour of fun.
Finally, when Edmead'sBianca physically moves Letts's lago out of the way so that she can try to stab Buffong's Cassio the audience laugh heartily. It is possible to suggesthere
(given the racial mix of the cast)that the audiencelaugh as they seethe black woman showingherself to be physicallystronger than the white man.Additionally, the laughter may havebeen evoked as the situationcould havebeen seen (by the predominantlyblack
audience)as an occurrencethat would not havebeen accepted by a 'stereotypical'black
man.Once again Talawa's productioncan be seento presentthe white man in an
unusuallyweak position.
The fact that the audiencelaugh aloud at many 'serious' points during the performance,
alongwith the fact that the work endswith rapturousapplause points to the degreeto
which the audiencefeel they havebeen entertained. In addition to their applauseand
laughterfurther evidenceof the audiencehaving goneto seeTalawa's productionto enjoy
themselvesis demonstratedby their active oral participationduring the show. Thomas
comments,'I rememberthat on one occasionwhen I was aboutto ki II Desdemona EnglishPlays Johnson 323 someoneshouted out something like, 'If you don't get out he's going to kill you, and you
86 foolish girl, you shouldnever give men like that a chance.'
This kind of responsewas not uncommonthroughout the run, which accordingto Thomas pointed to the extent to which some of the audience members were engaged.Thomas highlights this reaction as being typical of Talawa's audiences:
friends they ... when someof my white cameto seethe show didn't know what to think aboutthese people shouting out they
saidto me 'wasn't it terrible spoiling it for the whole audience.'
I saidthey were loving it, they pay their moneythey do what they
want and that's that at Talawa.87
In additionto the above'live' responsethe wider generaldocumented reaction to the show is found in the productionreviews. Talawa had tried to get public attentionfor the show by selling it in threeways. Firstly the presswould be invited to do pre-show'exclusive' interviewswith Brewsteras Othello was billed as her last Talawa show.88 None of the papersapproached took up the offer. Secondlythe show was sold as uniqueas it was beingperformed by Britain's leadingblack theatrecompany. 89 The final strategywas to 90 advertiseTalawa's new Blackgroundsproject as part of the Oihello publicity. The
86Interview with Ben Thomas by David Johnson, Thomas's London home, 3 September 2000. 87Ibid. 88 CameronDuncan PR, productionpress pack, for Talawa's Othello, p. I. To this endthe following papers werecontacted: Stage, Telegraph, Independent, Guardian, Radio 4 Kaleidoscope,Sunday Tinies, The Times. SeeTalawa production archives for Othello file. 89 - publicity lbid., p. 2. 90 Ibid., p. 3. EnglishPlays Johnson 324 productionpress pack sums up theresult of the threeapproaches aimed at encouraging mediaand by extensionpublic interest:
The response,particularly from the nationalmedia, was
disappointing, especially on the review front. However, I
havefound that the nationalcritics are often unwilling to
commit to a Talawatheatre production and this was no exception,
91 sadly.
Thereis no explanationgiven for the silencethat the pressappeared to demonstrate towardsTalawa's work. This suggestshowever a lack of interesteither in Talawaor in the fact that it was billed as Brewster'slast work for the company.Whilst racismmay be seen to be the causeof this responsethe presentwriter suggeststhat this is possiblynot entirely the caseas all of the mainstreampapers have regularly reviewedTalawa's productionsin the past.Perhaps the responsewas more personaland directedat Brewsterherself
The final commentof the presspack points to the fact that the majority of the write-ups
that do exist on the productionsimply statethat the productionis happening.For the
presentwriter the two reviewsthat commentfurther areworth looking at in more detail. In
thefirst reviewthat the showreceived, and which is in partblamed for the laterlack of 92 responsefrom other papers, Cavendishcomments, 'Sad to report then, that what should
91Ibid., pA 92 Ibid., Cameron Duncan PR, 'if we had had a good review in Time Out then I think I could have encouragedone or two critics to come along., EnglishPlays Johnson 325
93 be a crowning glory is nothing to write home aboUt., This points to the possibility that too muchexpectation may have beenplaced on the quality of what the companywould produceas Brewster'sswan song. Perhaps more importanthowever, is the fact that questionsconcerning the reasonswhy an experiencedblack British theatrecompany appearsunable to produce Othello successfully for the mainstream are not asked. For the present writer a possible answer may rest in what may be seento be the differences between white mainstream and black fringe notions of successalong with conflicting ideas of how Shakespeareshould be produced for the British stage within the context of these two theatrical areas.
In a later review Marlowe comments:
There is a ham-fistedfeel to the whole production.The crass
stereotypingof Desdemona(played by PaulaStockbridge) as a
SloaneRanger in Barbourjacket and loafersrobs her of individuality
and rendersher deatha matterof indifferenceto us. Michael Buffong
as Cassioseems profoundly ill-at-ease,while Ben Thomasis a plodding
Othello. There is a severelack of pacegenerally, and little senseof
growing misunderstandings,mental torment and imminent' disaster.94
The damningcomments speak for themselves,and are drawn in stark contrastto the fact that Othello was, at the point of performance,one of Talawa's biggestbox offlice
93Dominic Cavendish,'Othello', TimeOut, 15-22October 1997, 144. 94 p. SamMarlowe, 'Othello', What'son in London,22-29 October 1997,p. 53. EnglishPlays Johnson 326
95 successes. This suggeststo the presentwriter that the negative responsefrom the white mediadid not bestreflect the experienceof Talawa'saudience, and also calls into question how it was possiblethat the audienceand the pressresponded so differently to the same work. Perhapsexpectations were widely opposedor as indicatedby the presspack, the press did not want to see Brewster exit with a successful production.
Anotherelement of the productionthat was not commentedon by the pressbut for the presentwriter formed a centralaspect of the work was the impactof the languageof the performanceversus the colour of the actorsdelivering it. Quarshieillustrates how for the contemporaryblack performerthe languageof Othello may presentdifficulties:
Othello is given lines to speakwhich might havebeen quite
unremarkablefor a white Elizabethanactor in black make-up,
but which, particularly for a modem black actor, are problematic.
He must make no comment when his wife effectively says, 'I know
he's as ugly as sin, but he has a beautiful mind' CI saw Othello's 96 visage in his mind ý).
The presentwriter suggeststhat the contemporaryblack Othello working with an all- white castwould probablybe expectedto get on with delivering and coping with the impactof such languageand its connotationsalone. With Talawa's mixed cast however,
95 Interviewwith Ben Thomasby David Johnson,Thomas's London home, 3 September2000. 96Hugh Quarshie, 'SecondThoughts about Othello', basedon Quarshie's 'Hesitationson Othello', given by the authoras the Birthday Lectureat the Shakespearecentre, Stratford upon Avon, 24 April 1998,p. 13. EnglishPlays Johnson 327
'racially offensive' language(in a contemporarycontext) canbe creativelydealt with to setup the possibility for the languageof the performanceto be interpretedin ways that wereperhaps not originally intended.This meansthat the 'burden' of 'problematic' languagecan be handledby the whole castand offer multiple interpretations.This is seen in the following incidences in Talawa's performance.
WhenLetts's lago tells Mair's Brabantiothat 'the old black ram is tupping your white ewe
disgust Letts's lago is impart his has .. .' the that meantto with statement an elementof comedyfor the presentwriter. This is due to the fact that Adams'sEmilia is black and
Letts's lago is marriedto her. How disgustedcan he really be then by a mixed raceunion?
Similarly if Thomas'sOthello and Stockbridge'sDesdemona are 'making the beastwith two backs',presumably this is what Letts's lago thinks of the sexualactivity that he has with his own wife. As Thomas'sOthello is alreadythe productof sucha union therecan thenbe no mysteryas to the type of humanbeing that can result from cross-culturalsexual
activity. PerhapsBrabantio need not be so afraid after all.
WhenLetts's lago expoundson the natureof women for the benefit of Adams's Emilia,
Stockbridge'sOthello and Buffong's Cassio,'If shebe black and thereto have a wit,
she'll find a whitethat shall her blackness fit, ' his statementcan be seen to referto his
own personallife. In productionswhere Emilia is white lago's commentis not foundedin
any fact that he offers to his listenersand appearssimply to be loutish bravado. EnglishPlays Johnson 328
Bearingin mind his marriageinto black culture his commentto Driver's Rodrigo,'. we
work by wit andnot by witchcraft' may either appearto be foundedbecause of his black
connections,or seento be ridiculous preciselybecause of them.This connectionalso turns
his commentto Cassio, '.. to the healthof black Othello', on its head.Buffong's
considerablydarker Cassio must wonderwhat colour he is describedas by Letts's lago.
Additionally, for the presentwriter thereare commentsin traditional English productions
of Othello that may define or castaspersions on a character'ssocial status.Due to
Talawa'smixed castinghowever, some of thesecomments may appearto reflect
contemporarystereotypical statements on black people.This is seenwhere Adams's
Emilia questionsStockbridge's Desdemona, 'Who would not maketheir husbanda
cuckoldto makehim a monarch?' The presentwriter suggeststhat it is possibleto
interpretthis 'free' attitude to infidelity as a part of Adams's Emilia's blackness.A
possibleimage that is understoodfrom this is that whilst the black wife appearsto think
little of an infidelity that brings reward,a white wife remainsfaithful. Also, when
Adams'sEmilia asksThomas's Othello, 'What should sucha fool do with so gooda wife'
there is a suggestionthat the black man is perhapsnot good enoughfor the white woman
evenfrom a black perspective.
The abovecomment and traditional perfon-nancesof the play may invite the suggestion
that the black man both on and off stageis in many ways inadequate.For the present
writer however,there are aspectsof Thomas'sthought processprior to accepting,and then
in developinghis Othello in Talawa's production,that demonstratethe contemporary EnglishPlays Johnson 329 black actor (and by extension his approach to the roles he plays), is both creatively able, and in theatricaltenns politically conscious.
On noting Thomasas Talawa's Othello the presentwriter felt that therewere potentially two physical areasthat would make it difficult for Thomas to be a credible Othello without traditional stereotypesbeing broken. The first was Thomas's light skin colour as discussedabove. Secondly, was Thomas'syouthful appearance.Whilst Thomaswas in his early forties at the time of the performance,and there is no mention in Shakespeare's play that Othello is a particularlyold man,traditional productionshave tended to have
Othello playedby older performers.The young looking light-skinnedOthello would not havebeen the most obviousphysical choice. Similarly for Thomasthe role of Othello
wasnot his first choiceof Shakespeareanroles, 'I resistedit, I was resentfulpersonally,
honestlybecause it's the cageI expectedpeople to want me to sit in occasionally,to be
the black Shakespearerole. 97
The fact that Thomaswas ableto delay playing the role points to what may be seenas a
lack of needto acceptall work that camehis way. Whilst the majority of black
performersmay not be in an equally fortunateposition Thomascan be seento attributea
portion of this privileged situationto his belief that 'lighter skinnedblack actorshave a
better in this than darker (in Thomas's the chance country ones... they're opinion of
mainstream)more palatableto the audience.' 98
97Interview with Ben Thomas by David Johnson, Thomas's London home, 3 September 2000. 98Ibid. EnglishPlays Johnson 330
Anotherpart of Thomas'sresistance to the role was basedon what can be seenas the burdenhe felt the role carriedwith it. His theatricalconscience did not allow him to ignorethe fact that unlike his white counterpartsThomas was not at liberty to play the role without the possibility of the negativeaspects of Othello's character,and the play generally, appearing representative of all black men and black actors. Thomas states,
'Othello is bound in bigotry it today's up so much .. seemsto pander even to audience their in it 99 about prejudices .. put an alien a position of authority and they'll screw up.
He continues:
On the things is sexualside of .... anythingthat exciting beautiful and exotic might stealaway our most prizes .. and it. it's I is no good will comeof .. not a story that think necessarily interesting if as as someof the others... particularly you and your raceare cast in the role of the thief."
Thomashad the choiceof not acceptingthe role or playing it and runningthe risk of living up to the negativeimages he felt it carried.He choseto approachthe role with the ideaof makinga differenceand attemptedto do this by creatinga reasonfor all of
Othello's actionsaiming to show that Othello '.. was not a foot but hadjust been foolish."Ol
99 Ibid. loo Ibid. EnglishPlays Johnson 331
With this in mind Thomascan be seento havedeveloped his character'shistory so that his presentationof Othello would makesense within the contextof the rangeof behaviourhe displaysin the play. In this regardnegative behaviour could not be attributedto his blacknessbut ratherrelated to concretepersonal facts. So in orderto justify his killing of Stockbridge'sDesdemona, Thomas's Othello was madea Muslim.
As a Muslim it could be arguedthat the deathof evil was a goodthing. In spite of his intentions,efforts and insights, Thomaswas however,unable to give the audiencethe
Othello he wantedto present:
I playeda characterthat I couldn't be proud of because
he was lessof a manthan I wantedhim to be and I couldn't
him icon flaw his flaws make an with a ... were too great we would havehad to totally changethe play.102
Whilst Thomas'ssocial conscienceis admirable,it must be rememberedthat he is an actor.Is it reasonablethen that Thomasshould feel he hasto changethe charactershe playsso that they are all flawlessrather than humanin orderto ensurethat blacksare
more fairly represented?Whilst this questionis not answeredhere, it points through
Thomas,to one of the manydilemmas that contemporaryblack performersface in
consideringthe role of Othello.
101Ibid. 102 Ibid. EnglishPlays Johnson 332
Quarshieechoes Thomas's thoughts, ' Af a genuinelyblack actor plays Othello does he not risk makingracial stereotypesseem legitimate or eventrueT 103He goes further, 'Of all the parts in the canon,perhaps Othello is the one which shouldmost definitely not be playedby a black actor.' 104The presentwriter suggeststhat the latter commentcan be understoodas a reasonablestatement within the knowledgethat Othello was perhapsnever intended to be a real black man,but was ratherto remaina white impersonationof one.This notion can be supportedby the fact that Shakespeareappears to suggestthat Othello behavesnegatively becausehe is black, thereby creating a role that would perhapsnot be attractiveto blacksand by extensionmay be seento
105 that the intendedfor suggest play was never them .
As it seems,Othello was originally intendedfor a white actor and white audience,it may also be arguedthat when playedby a black actor the actor is perhapsrequired to shed himself of all vestigesof his natural 'blackness'in favour of impersonatinga black man to a remit and descriptionprepared for and aimedat feedingthe prejudicesof whites.
Quarshiesuggests a possiblesolution to the black 'dilemma' of playing Othello,
6... perhapsblack actorscould simply declineto play the role on the groundsthat it shouldonly be playedby a white actor,with or without black make-up.This would of coursehave the merit of allowing black actorsto play lago.' 106
Whilstthe present writer agreeswith Quarshiethat black actors should be able to playthe
103 Quarshie, 'Second Thoughts about Othello', pA 104Ibid. 05Ibid., p. 8. 06Ibid., p.22. EnglishPlays Johnson 333 role of lago this shouldnot be insteadof playing Othello, and suggeststhat it would be morebeneficial for black performersgenerally for black theatrecompanies like
Talawato continuedoing the work. Suchproductions would createthe opportunityfor the outdatedelements of the work (in the contextof a contemporarymulticultural audience)to be challenged creatively and would eventually allow black actors to feel less burdened with having to have a social consciencewith every play they work on.
New productionsmay also bring unforeseenperformance issues to the fore.
In this light Talawa's performanceof Othello can be seento have impactedon mainstreamtheatre and helpedto fuel the debateas to whetherthe role of Othello is the preserveof one particularrace. That Talawa,should have performed the work and highlightedthat it can indeedbe perfon-nedby blacks,and that the Royal National
Theatre,featuring a black Othello (David Harewood)at the sametime as Talawa's productiondid the same,does not appearto havebeen welcomed by factionsthe mainstreampress:
I don't know whetheranyone has actually decreedthat
the part of Othello shouldonly be playedby black actors,
but suchis theconvention which has come into forcein
contemporarytheatre. It is a seriousrestriction on artistic freedom,
and its chief practical effect is that Othello now getsproduced less
often than any of the other major Shakespearetragedies. 107 EnglishPlays Johnson 334
For the present writer Gross is failing to acknowledge that it would seem reasonablethat wherea characterhas been created specifically to makea commenton his blacknessthat that charactermay also be playedby a black actor on the contemporaryBritish stage.If, as
Grossappears to state,Othello is beingproduced less because the theatreestablishment now view the part as a black role, he can also be seento be suggestingthat British theatre is not greatlyinterested in attractingthe black performerswho could be cast in the role.
Gross'snotion that only black performerscan play the part appearsto stemfrom two 1997
Londonproductions of the show, one of which is Talawa' s. Gross'sstatement can be seen thento be an exaggeration.For the presentwriter it is Gross'sanxiety that indicatesthe natureof how sometheatre practitioners and critics may feel aboutblack artists
performingShakespeare at all, and how ill preparedthey can be seen to be to lend their
supportto this developmentin British theatre.
Whatthe presentwriter regardsas a continuedlack of supportfrom the white mainstream
at the time of the 1997performances can be seenin Lister's commentsin referenceto the
RoyalNational Theatre'sproduction of Othello:
background ..., no white actor with a similar would
be playing the lead in a Shakespearetragedy at the NT.
Harewood,32, hasnever yet actedin a nationalcompany
or WestEnd play, but has starredin British regionaltheatre
and in Anthony and Cleopatra off Broadway.Meanwhile the
role is barredat the highest level to everywhite actor in the
107 JohnGross, 'Moor with addedvalue, SundayTelegraph, 21 September1997, p. 11. EnglishPlays Johnson 335
108 country.
There is an edge and bitterness in Lister's comment that perhaps demonstrates part of the attitudethat Talawaand indeedall black theatrepractitioners may be up againstfrom the mainstream.For the present writer, this kind of attitude encouragesmarginal isation. As
Talawa does not wish to marginalise itself this may be problematic for the company
like Lister. Lister '. Jt's deprive andcritics continues, . a greatshame to white actorsof one of the most demanding roles in the repertoire."09 The fact that he does not mention the possibility of anotherblack actor(with in his view bettercredentials for the part), perhapssuggests that he either doesnot think there is one,or that he doesnot wish to entertainthis ideaas his focus is on the notion that the part shouldonly be playedby a white actor.Additionally, his useof the emotiveverb 'deprive' in relationto white actors on the British stage(who cannotbe seento havebeen denied access to any areaof work in British theatre),may be seento illustratesthat the critic is perhapsunwilling to encourageblack actorsto perform in Shakespeareplays generally.A singlemainstream theatrecritic's expressionof what can be seenas a negativeview towardsblack performersand their prospectsof playing Shakespearecould havea detrimentaleffect on the generalmainstream view of suchwork. With this in mind Lister's commentsmay be regardedby someas strategicto achievethis aim.
For the presentwriter this rangeof attitudestowards the performanceof the character
Othello would suggestthat the interestand thought the role provokesfor black and white
108 David Lister, 'Can it be wrong to 'black up' for OthelloT, Independent, 7 August 1997, p. 13. 109Ibid. EnglishPlays Johnson 336
by theatrepractitioners alike makesthe role too importantfor it not to be performed a particularracial group.Performances from the widest cultural spheremay, like Talawa's version,present the work in a new, contemporaryand relevantlight. Is it not time to welcomethis type of theatricalchange?
Throughout this chapter the present writer has illustrated some of what Talawa Theatre
Company can be seento have achieved through its performance of English plays. The company has challenged notions of black theatre in Britain generally, but also specifically by demonstrating how black theatre practitioners may wish to approach and perform this type of work. The work also gave black performers the opportunity to work within a genre that they may otherwise have been excluded from, as well as afforded white performers the possibility to experience this type of work with black performers.
Additionally, Talawa's performances also gave its audience the chance to expand its
viewing repertoire.
In keepingwith the company'smission statementTalawa's performancesof the English
playscan be seento havemet all three of the company'saims by enrichingBritish
theatrethrough showinghow black culture and experiencecan changethe meaningof the
traditional text thus making it more relevantto Talawa's contemporaryBritish audience.
By extensionthis achievementmay also be regardedas having helpedthe companyto
reflectthe importantrole of blackBritish theatrein the nationaland international arena,
andto haveencouraged the growth of Talawa's audienceby making the English plays
accessibleto boththe blackcommunity and the mainstream.Finally, the presentwriter EnglishPlays Johnson 337 believesthat Talawa should be activelyencouraged to continueto producework in this
area,both to enablethe companyto developartistically and so that performancesof
Englishplays with black actorsare no longer seenas a novelty but ultimately acceptedas
a part of contemporaryBritish theatre. Conclusion Johnson 338
CHAPTERSEVEN
CONCLUSION
As stated in the introduction the present writer has aimed to demonstratethe positive and innovativecontribution that TalawaTheatre Company can be seento havemade to modemBritish theatrethrough what he describesas his contemporaryblack British perspective.The presentwriter's commentsin the proceedingchapters are shownto be the result of his study of a range of sociolinguistic theories and Talawa's mission statement usedto highlight the company'sachievements. Additionally, extensiveresearch conducted usingTalawa's archives, in particularTalawa's productionvideos, working professionally with Talawaboth as a theatrepractitioner and as a Board member,and carryingout numerousinterviews and surveys,have provided the evidencefor muchof the discussion throughoutthis thesis.The following conclusionis divided into two areas.Firstly,
Talawa'shistory and achievementsas discussedthroughout this thesisare briefly summed
up. Secondly,the presentwriter offers his recommendationsfor the company'sfuture.
It may be arguedthat the history of a theatrecompany is reflectedin the history of the
country that the company comes from. The present writer points to this being the case for
Talawa (as discussed in Chapter Two) becausethe company's theatrical roots are shown
by the present writer to have originated in Africa. These were added to by the removal of
Africans from Africa to Jamaica with slavery, and finally further developed with the
permanent movement of Jamaican Yvonne Brewster to England in 1970. Talawa's history
as a performance company as illustrated in Chapter Three demonstratesthe wealth and Conclusion Johnson 339 rangeof work thatthe companyhas achieved between 1986 and 2001, whilst pointing to the company'sability to breakartistic barriersand establishTalawa, as Britain's leading black theatrecompany.
Throughoutthis thesisthe presentwriter has illustratedhow Talawa's artistic achievement is seenin a rangeof areas.Firstly, the companyhas been both innovativeand forward thinking in the magnitudeof performancework it hascovered since its inception.
Regularly performing work within the four distinct genres of African, American,
Caribbeanand English playsTalawa has demonstrated both the company'sflexibility and willingnessto extendthe acceptedrepertoire of black British theatre. SecondlY,the themesthat the company'sperformances explore allow Talawa's audienceto be introducedto, and examineparts of its history in a theatricalforum that is generally unavailablein British theatre.The rangeof work that Talawaperforms and the themes exploredwithin the work leadto what the presentwriter seesas Talawa's third significant artistic achievement.This is Talawa's useof oral languagefor performance.
The presentwriter has shownthat Talawa's work within this areacan be describedwithin the sociolinguistictheories of sociologyof languageand languagestyle as audience design,and a rangeof sociolinguisticconcepts related to thesetheories in addition to the sociolinguisticconcepts of linguistic accommodationand linguistic behaviour.Talawa's rangeof languageuse was also suggestedto havehighlighted the complexity of language within the wider black British community. Conclusion Johnson 340
Performingin voicesfrom Africa,the Caribbean, America and England Talawa has also beenable to highlight the relevanceof this rangeof speechto the black British community.Additionally, the company'sattempts to developaccurate speech for its performanceswithin eachspeech form performedpoints to the close link between languageand specific cultural identity. In portraying a range of black communities Talawa can be seenthroughout the thesisto haveaimed to distinguisheach community by its speechstyle.
Fourthly,Talawa's mission statementas outlined in ChapterThree hasallowed the companyto maintaina clear artistic vision which has led the companyin all of the artistic achievementsoutlined above.Without exceptionall Talawa's work can be seento have achievedthe company'sfirst aim 'to useblack culture and experienceto further enrich
British theatre'.Without Talawa's work the London stagewould haveseen much less black performancegenerally over the pastfifteen years.It is at least in part due to the company'sconsistency since its inceptionthat black British theatreis now recognisedas a
genrewithin British theatre.The acceptanceof this genremay also be seenas the
acknowledgementof a new dimensionto a branchof British theatrehistory as seenin
ChapterThree.
Talawa's productionscan also be seento havemet the criteria for its secondand third
aims in its missionstatement by 'providing productionsthat reflect the significant creative
role that black theatreplays within the nationaland internationalarena', and by 'enlarging
theatreaudiences from the black community'. Though the quality of the productionsmay Conclusion Johnson 341 be debatedas has been seen throughout the thesis, the company'swork has shown that black theatreis a necessaryand growing aspectof nationaland internationaltheatre. For the presentwriter this last point is highlightedby the successof Talawa'sAmerican plays showinghow black theatrefrom either side of the Atlantic can be appreciatedand understoodby Talawa's audience.Similarly, Talawa's successmay be measuredby its growingblack audiencethat appearsto be loyal to the companyregardless of the genreof the work that is being performed.
For the presentwriter, Talawa'sartistic achievementscan also be saidto havedirectly benefitedindividual perfonnersas Talawa's work hasundoubtedly provided black performerswith acting opportunitiesthat do not appearto havebeen available to them in the wider mainstream.The work that the companyhas performedhas meant that both
Caribbeanand black British performershave been able to developboth in culture specific as well as mainstreamstyles of work. For the presentwriter this allows eachperformer the chanceto demonstrateher/his multiple performanceskills that shouldin turn discourage any pigeonholing from the mainstream.Talawa's artistic work can be seento have provideda significant training groundthen for black performersin Britain. The company hasalso enabledwhite performersto developan understandingof black British theatreby the roles that it has given to white actors.
As shownin ChapterThree Talawa's artistic achievementsgo far beyondtheatrical performances.The companycan be seento haveoffered numerousblack artiststhe opportunityto developtheir art through: The Women'sWriters Project,Talawa's Conclusion Johnson 342
EducationProgramme, two ZebraCrossing Seasons, Talawa's SummerSchool, and the company'sBlackgrounds video project. Talawa's biggestartistic achievementhowever, may be seenas the company'smoving black British theatreto the WestEnd by obtaining its residencyat The CochraneTheatre. Despite the lack of clarity surroundingthe reasons for Talawanot beingallowed to extendits lease,Talawa showedthat reachingthe West
End (althoughthis hasnot beenachieved by any black theatrecompany since), was not
beyonda black theatrecompany in Britain.
In addition to what Talawahas achieved artistically the presentwriter further suggeststhat
the company'sartistic achievementsmay also be shownto have impactedon areasoutside
Talawa.This may firstly be illustratedwith the company'saudience that hasbeen able to
seemany more black performerson the British stageas well as white performersin black
productions.Talawa was initially presentinga new kind of work for an Afro/Caribbean
audience.In the pastblack audiencemembers may have seenwork by black companies
with a black audiencein mind but their existencewas often short-livedwith the
performanceof one-off shows.Through Talawa's perfon-nancesthe black audience
memberswere able to witnesstheir issuesbeing dealt with analysedand discussedin a
creativeforum in a long-termway that the mainstreamhad not generallyoffered. This in
turn could lead to the raisingof self-esteem,pride in cultural history and languagefor
Talawa's audience.
Additionally, Talawa's work can also be shownto havehad a significant impact for the
wider black communityas the company'sregular performances can be seenas a sign of Conclusion Johnson 343
Talawa'scontinued success. This successwould suggestthat therewas a spacein the theatricalmarket for black theatreperformers within a black British theatresetting. This in turn could also intimateto membersof Talawa's audiencein other industriesthat they could be successfulworking within a niche marketcatering to a specificclient. When
Talawaintroduced its audienceto Americanand English works the companywas also
aiming at widening its audience.Similarly, Talawa's audiencemembers could haveused
the impactof this expansionto be inspiredto enlargetheir own businessendeavours by
trying to attracta wider client basethat was not madeup purely of black people.For the
presentwriter there aretwo specificareas of work outsidetheatre that Talawacan be seen
to haveimpacted on that shouldalso be briefly noted.
For the black mediaTalawa can be seento havebeen at the centreof all artistic discussion
from beingreviewed by them, running featureson Brewsterand otherTalawa performers,
to awardingaccolades to the company.The Black presshave also demonstratedtheir
supportfor Talawa's productionsand havealways offered positive reviews.Additionally,
Talawa'swork can be seento have impactedon the teachingof drama,and specifically on
the developmentof the rangeof approachesto text. This is seenin Talawa's after
performanceworkshops that are aimedat secondaryschool students. Talawa hasoffered
its educationalpackages for all genresof the company'swork. Talawa's Blackgrounds
projectmay also be seenas illustrating part of the impact that Talawahas had in
education.As the video project is seenas a valuableresearch and educationalresource it
hasbeen housed both on video and CD rorn at the TheatreMuseum, Covent Garden. Conclusion Johnson 344
In additionto the impacton its audiencemembers, the pressand education, Talawa's work can be seento havehad a considerableeffect on the British theatreworld as a whole. This is illustratedby the fact that initially the companywas in competitionfor funding with other British small-scaletheatre groups, continually got funding and was ableto gradually increaseto middle scale theatre. Additionally, as the longest surviving black British theatre company Talawa has secured a place for itself in contemporary British theatre
history.
For the presentwriter Talawa's successand longevity hasat least in part stemmedfrom a
willingnessto dare.Aspects of this trait can also be seenhowever to havereceived a
negativereception from the mainstreamas is demonstratedby part of the responseto
Talawa'sproductions of English plays.The negativereviews as discussedin ChapterSix
can be seenat leastto partly suggestthat the mainstreamwas not in favour of a black
companytaking up the challengeof this kind of work.
The presentwriter's discussionof Talawa's artistic achievementsthroughout this thesis
and the abovenote on the impactthat the company'swork has had outsideof Talawa
itself, demonstrateboth the burdenof representationthat the companycarries on its
shouldersand a possibleconsequence of misrepresentation.From Talawa's arrayof
artistic achievementsthe presentwriter suggeststhat the companyhas successfullycarried
the artistic burdenof representationas defined in the introduction.AdditionallY, the
presentwriter can be seento haveshown throughout this thesisthat wherethe mainstream
hascommented negatively on Talawa's work the consequencesof misrepresentation Conclusion Johnson 345
(whetheron thepart of Talawaor thepress) have not gonebeyond bad reviews. It should
be rememberedhowever, that further consequencesof misrepresentationas outlined in the
introductionstill remaina possibility for Talawa.
In order for the company to avoid these consequencesas it has for the past fifteen years
andto continueto makea positive contribution over the next fifteen yearsin British
theatre,the presentwriter believesthat Talawa will needto focus on its developmentin
four centralareas:
e The role of the board.
* The developmentof an Artistic Director to succeedBrewster.
9 Implementationof new artistic projects.
e Establishinga permanentbase for the company.
For the presentwriter the existing hands-onBoard could be divided into two groupswith
clear responsibilities.The first group could plan and ensurethe developmentof work that
would allow Talawato fully documentits history and the lives and work of thoseblack
artistsworking in Britain who have influencedTalawa's inceptionand work to date.The
secondgroup could focuson Talawa's presentand work specifically on developing
Talawa'svision. The recommendedstructure would allow Talawato focus on actively Conclusion Johnson 346 using its pastwhilst developingits presentand future. The presentwriter further recommendsthat the Board membersuse their specific careerexpertise to enhancethe developmentof the company.In this regardBoard memberswould becomea specific resourceto thoseinvolved in the day to day running of the company.
In terms of artistic direction it is important to recognise that Talawa may have difficulty by finding a new Artistic Director if the hope is that the company should be artistically led a black theatre practitioner on Brewster's retirement. This is due to the fact that there appearspresently to be a lack of black theatre directors with the experience to take on the
' by both artistic directorship of the company. Additionally, from initial research conducted
Brewster and Talawa's Board those theatre directors of African and Caribbean descent who havethe appropriateexperience do not appeareager to expressan interestin the post? With this in mind the post of Artistic Director may well be awardedto a candidate
with exceptionalpotential rather than experience.
The presentwriter is of the belief that the secondphase of the company'sstory shouldbe
led by a black British Artistic Director. It would seemfitting that the British bom
theatricaldescendants of thosewho startedTalawa would be most appropriateto takethe
companyforward. WhereTalawa's work can be seento haveestablished an historical
performancebase for black theatrein Britain, the presentwriter recommendsthat a
centralaspect of its future is in work which discussesthe contemporaryexistence of
blackswho were bom here.
1Catherine Ugwu, Talawa TheatreCompany: Towards 2001- A Paperfor Board Discussionand Decision (unpublished),prepared for Talawa's Board, March 1999),p. 2. Conclusion Johnson 347
In additionto the rangeof projectsthat Talawa alreadyruns the presentwriter recommendsthat the companyconsiders developing the following threetypes of work:
-P A director's training programme.
o Black British writing.
& Archival and heritage projects.
In a bid to createnew theatredirectors Talawa could seekto secondtrainees and offer them the opportunityof working alongsidethe establishedArtistic Director of the
company.Talawa could also considerthe possibility of working with a new trainee
director for one productioneach year. Implementation of the aboveideas would help to
startthe processof creatinga storeof neededblack theatredirectors in Britain. The
consequencesof suchwork not being undertakenin the nearfuture could result in Talawa
beingartistically leaderlesswhen the companyenters a new phasein yearsto come.
The presentwriter also recommendsthat significant energyis put into finding and
nurturingnew black British writing. This is important if Talawa's work is to be relevant
to a new generationof black peoplein Britain. Nurturing of black writing shouldnot be
genderbased but shouldwelcome black Britons of both sexesas the amountand rangeof
work that is presentlyavailable to black theatregoers,is too limited for new endeavours
to be restrictedby gender.
Ibid., p.3. Conclusion Johnson 348
Whilst Talawaforges ahead to retain and improve its standingin black British theatre
specificallyand British theatregenerally, the work that hasalready been achieved should be carefullydocumented. In this regardTalawa should develop a theatrearchive. The presentwriter also recommendsthat video materials,publications, and all other records arehoused in an archivethat may be accessibleto the public. If Talawa's work and that of otherblack theatrepractitioners' is not documented,later generationswill find that they areconstantly reinventing the wheel or, that they are buying into the notion that
black theatrehas not existedfor long, or where it has,has not been'serious' or
'important' enoughto document.
As a last recommendationthe presentwriter suggeststhat Talawa,would benefit from
havingits own permanentresidence. This would give the companya homethat it could
control and manage.In addition to being able to perform in its own spacea permanent
residencewould enablethe companyto usethe facility as a venuefor new black theatre
companiesto showcasetheir work, as well provide room for housinga public archiveof
black theatrehistory. As Talawahas alwaysbeen a London basedcompany it hasbuilt its
reputationin the London region.Due to the fact that London hasthe largestgroups of
Afro/Caribbeanpeople, it would be advisableto keepthe basethere as this would allow 31f the companyto continueto caterfor an essentialpart of its target audience. Talawa
3 In January1999 a group of consultants,under the leadershipof Judith Strong,were commissionedby Talawato researchand producea report on the company.In May 1999they producedthe following document:Talaiva TheatreCompany Feasibility StudyPhase 1: Final ReportComprising Executive Summary,Options Analysis, Buildings SearchandAppraisal (unpublished),prepared for Talawa's Board, May 1999.P. 6. of OptionsAnalysis gives the percentagesof black peopleliving in GreaterLondon: 58% of Black Caribbeans,79% of Black Africans, and 44% of other black people.(Figures taken from the Commissionfor Racial Equality (CRE) fact sheet1999). Conclusion Johnson 349 continuesto developand has its ownspace it is possiblethat this growthwill inspirenew black theatrecompanies to developin Britain.
For the presentwriter Talawa.has set the stagefor its continueddevelopment and also for black theatrecompanies not to be seenas a novelty on the British stage.if the novelty factor is takenout of black performancebecause it is seenas a regularand acceptedpart of British theatre,there is also a possibility that this will happenwith other areasof black artistic endeavourin Britain. As theseblack artists breakinto the mainstreamthey will further impacton all areasof artistic work in Britain possiblycreating more openingsfor black artistsalong the way.
Finally, as an establishedcompany in a securespace the presentwriter suggeststhat
(in light of the achievementsthat havegone before), Talawa is likely to continueto
breaknew groundby presentinga rangeof theatrebased work that will speakwith
relevanceto all thosewho considerthemselves part of Britain's increasingly
multicultural society.For the presentwriter, the fact that Talawa, firstly as a small and
then middle scaletheatre company has continued to perform as well as developand run
new projectsdespite a lack of funding, and (at times) mainstreamsupport, shows both
that the companyis probablyhere to stayand also illustratesthe accuracyof the
company'sname. What hasbeen discussed here as fifteen yearsof Talawa's history,
performancework and achievementsbetween 1986 and 2001 is perhapsonly the
beginningof what the companyhas to offer contemporaryBritish theatregenerally, and
the genreof black British theatrespecifically. If this is the casethis is an aspectof Conclusion Johnson 350 modemBritish theatre that its audienceand critics alike can took forward to being entertainedand challengedby throughoutthe twenty first century. AppendixI Johnson 351
APPENDIX I
DAVID JOHNSON TALKS TO YVONNE BREWSTER ABOUT LOUISE BENNETT
The following interview is an edited version of the interview published in Kunappi, Vol. x. no.1 (1998) 72-82.
YB: Well, Louise Bennett is like a large comfortable duvet (laughter). Yes, I believe
a duvet becausea duvet has a very practical use in that it keepsyou warm
Europeanimage for West Indian lady, but I what a eh? ..... such a sunny expect
it's becauseit's snowing outside why that comesto mind. Her warmth is all
enveloping,but her precision is like the stitching around the edgeof the duvet.
Shethinks clearly, she thinks ironically and she thinks musically. She is an
incredible sourceof inspiration for anybodywho has any concernabout the
WestIndian literature Jamaicanto be valueof ...... the valueof our precise,
becauseshe wouldn't referto herselfas a WestIndian she'd refer to herself
alwaysas a Jamaican,rather as I do, becauseI think thereis a vastdifference
betweenthe islands
And it isn't Louise go lightly it's Louise go very detailedly. Shehas all her
referencepoints she knows her historicaldata, so when she can take things like
immigration to England and write, in that particular poem about, Colonisation AppendixI Johnson 352
in Reverse,which is probablyone of the mostimportant sociological pieces of
poetry ever written in the West Indies... then you understandhow she can be so
precisein such a short poem, and even if you don't speakthe dialect you are in
no doubt about what that poem actually means.
Shewould take on stuff like cricket and the poachingof people's culture by the
British and do it in such a precise and stinging way whilst smiling all the while.
I love it. And it's so Jamaican,cos Jamaicansactually naturally speakingdon't
get heavy.There's always that little kind of laugh but you've got to seebelow it.
I rememberalways, and Louise saysthis, 'Ha, better laugh than cry' or 'If I
don't laugh I will cry', and the threat in the 'cry' is important to recognise. So
Louise Bennett,her whole personality, her whole effervescence,is one of laid
back gentility and proactive,cultural invasiveness.It's a fantastic combination
and I have to say that her husbandEric, and I think tribute must be paid to him,
hada greatdeal to do with keepingher in the mannerin which shewould be
able to continue being like this.
DJ: How did he do that?
YB: Well, becausehe understood(laughter). Husbands often don't... andhe wasa
fantastic support. Husbandsoften get jealous of a personof large, I keep saying Appendix I Johnson 353
largeof coursethe womanweighs an impressiveamount, but that'snot the
heavinessI I heavy in her it mean... mean terms of comment,although always
appearedso light to the audiences,and with children.
I remembershe used to have a television show in the early daysof television in
Jamaicacalled, Ring Ding. A programmefor young people alwaysrecorded.
That was very sophisticatedin those daysyou know. Louise would go home to
this amazinghouse that shehad uP in Gordon Town, Kingston. Shehad this
enormousbedroom in which there was this huge four- poster.It must have been
least feet know at eight square,you almost canopied...... and stuck up at one
comer of the room was this television on top of the wardrobe.
Now, it was before the time of colour television right, so over this screenwas
spreada bit of theatricalgel, colouredgel, to give it that warmglow. Soyou had
this kind of pinky straw coloured gel, and she would lie in the bed,
frothed up with all thesewonderfully embroideredwhite cushionsand pillow
cases,and shewould lie down, in state,in the bed and watch Ring Ding on
Saturdayafternoon when it wasbeing transmitted. Now, thoseof us younger
peoplewho regardedLouise Bennett as a saint would sometimesgo up there
andwatch her watchingherself on television. AppendixI Johnson 354
DJ: Could you just explain how you cameinto contactwith Louise Bennettin the
first place?
YB: Oh, I don't know. It seemsI was born in her lap. I've never known a time when
I didn't know Louise, I don't remembermeeting her d'you see,so I must have
come into her presencebefore memoryjogged. Funny no one's ever askedme
that. Anyway, one day I took a little girl called Maxine... she was one of my
mother's many adoptedchildren, who I took as my daughterif you like. I took
Maxinewith me,and Maxine at the time wasabout three and a half. Sowe sat
down on the bed, and Louise is giving cashewnuts and Christmaspudding and
plantain and she was always eating, right. So we lay down in this bed, three
women, one three and a half, me in my thirties or something,or late twenties,
and Louise Bennett,I don't know how old, no one asksLouise's age.So we're
watching this, and then and Maxine startsto cry. We can't understandand then
Louiserealises what is wrong.Maxine is lookingat the televisionand looking
at the bed, and looking at the television and looking at the bed, and she's not
seeingthe samething coming out of the mouth of Louise, and so you know
Louise said it to put the child at rest. Isn't that a fascinating thing? That's
Louise Bennett. Sheappealed to everyonefrom small children to adults who
would go and watch her and Maas Ranny in pantomime every year. These
peoplefelt theywere watching their culture,their life distilled if you like. Appendix I Johnson 355
DJ: Whatwas the pantomimeactually like?
YB: Well pantomimein Jamaicastarted nearly sixty yearsago. It startedwith the
expatriates,the white expatriateswanting 6something to do'. There was this
amazingFrank Matcham.theatre, the exact spitting image of The TheatreRoyal
Stratford East, but twice the size darling and twice as nice. It had all the plush,
did first it all the cupids and that's where they the pantomime. .I think was
either Sinbad the Sailor or Jack and the Beanstalk. So all of the white people
were dressedup in lederhosen.and slappingtheir thighs and had principal boys
and stuff. This existed for quite a few yearswhilst they amusedthemselves you
Jamaicans,typical Jamaican,decided (kissing her teeth) see... and then the
'Tekin' ova yu noh! ' So this is when Louise and Ranny startedto do it. I think
that the first Jamaicanpantomime with Jamaicanovertones was a thing called
BushaBluebeard, where we had someblack people on stagedealing with
Anancy,the folkloric herowe celebrate.Anancy's genesis is in Ghana...which
is where I think most Jamaicanscame from.
In the GoldenAge of the Jamaicanpantomime it wasproduced by the Fowlers.
They must not be forgotten, people sort of try and go on as if they didn't do
anything.They did. Greta and Henry Fowler were white Jamaicans,but
Jamaicanswith a senseof history,who encouragedthe Jamaicanisationof the
pantomime.They were the ones who put the money behind it to produce it so AppendixI Johnson 356
that Louisecould do it. That'swhat Louiseis bestknown for, andwasn't she
marvellous!
I always rememberas a youngsterhelping out with the direction of the
pantomimecalled Morgan's Dream of Old Port Royal. It was a kind of
historical pantomimeabout the buccaneer,who becamegovernor of Jamaica,
on the principle that if you can't beat em join em. He was such a pirate they
madehim governor so that Jamaicastopped being pirated. It was a lovely
thing... and I was assistingRex Nettleford I think, who was directing this. This
was my foray into directing. I used to act at the time, I was terrible actually, but
I learnt very quickly, and any time anybodywas sick, who would do the part?
Yvonne.
So I was the kind of roving male understudy.Louise was starring in the thing,
but she was sick, and for the first time in the history of the pantomimesomeone
went on and did Louise's part... and it was me. I knew the lines and everything,
And I thought 'Yeah! ', I wasn't nervous or anything, cos when you're young
you're so stupid....and I did four parts.
DJ: And you sayyou can't act?
YB: I respect great actors..when you are working with really great actors ... Appendix I Johnson 357
MonaHammond, behind is .. .1think up thereon the wall you a great
actress. When you're working with people like that, Jeffrey Kissoon, Norman
Beaton,they're all in this room the peopleI really regard. Yes, when you
work with them and you seethe depth of their talent you know that you're a
joker.
DJ: So what about that part then?What happenedwhen you performedit?
Steppinginto Louise Bennett's shoes
YB: Never thinking you know that all thesetwenty how many yearsof tradition
everybodycame to seeLouise Bennett.Louise Bennett sick you know, and
usually if Louise was sick they just cancelledthe show. Now things were
getting much more commercial in thosedays you know, and cancelling a show,
4can'tcancel show'.
Withoutthinking that thesepeople would be so shocked,when I went on andI
heardthe reaction,like, 'A weh di 1', that's whenI wasshocked, but darlingI'm
a trouper right. I won them over, becausethey didn't want me, they didn't know
who the hell I was.I wasa nobodyyou know, nobodyknew me. At that time, I AppendixI Johnson 358
wason radio,they didn't know my face.I usedto havea dastardlykind of
programmeon radio called Open House, and I was producing some
television. When I camedown for my bow, and Louise was the last personand
I Lois Kelly Barrow, 'You do the last bow, I'm doing everything.... said to not it'. She be daft'. down Ranny said, 'Don't so So she came with me and ...... and
the audiencereally applauded...through the generosity of the other actors
have to say
DJ: But it must have beengood
YB: I'm not gonna say it wasn't good, it was fantastic it's one of my life long
The I don't know I memoriesactually. cheek,and the sort of ...arrogance,
think it was affogance,I think it was, well the show must go on
DJ: What did Louise say?
YB: Louise was great.. she said, 'Well A cyan get sick again now', and of courseshe
because She Louisedoesn't have time for neverwas she'sa trouper. wasgreat ... petty rubbish. She's a giant. AppendixI Johnson 359
DJ: After the pantomimeI think whathappened next was the Radioshows, in the
sixties, Miss Lou's Views
YB: Oh no, thosewere happeningall the time, pantomimewent straightthrough
until the middle seventiesyou know.. Miss Lou's Viewsexisted all the time
just doing thing Louise jetting you seeshe wasn't one ....commercials, was all the lectures, Louise RADA know? over world ..... um... giving went to you
DJ: Did she ever speakto you about her experienceof being in England?
YB: I thought I be interested find it like. She never to ask ... would to out what was
wasn't here for very long. I think shewas here for a year at RADA.
DJ: So what about the radio shows?
YB: Radioshows? Jook, demtings changedcultural perception, political
perception.Aunty Roachy?..Look at all the thingsthat Aunty Roachywould
say....you couldn't say them things but, 'As my Aunty Roachysaid to me the
otherday, don't you think is abouttime the PrimeMinister get a haircut?. She
wouldn't be as crassas that. The haircut could really mean, 'cut arf 'im ed'. She Appendix I Johnson 360
wasvery political. You canask her aboutthis, but the fact that shedoesn't live
in Jamaicais an enduring shameto that country.
DJ: Why is it that she is not in Jamaica?
YB: Well I meanI think it was politics. I think she felt shehad to leave.
DJ: It's also interestingthat shechose Canada.
YB: Yeah, but I think she had family up there and her husbandis sick with his heart,
and that was where he could get the best treatmentyou see.She has somethings
wrongwith her aswell, I think that's whereit's bestfor her too. I readan
article in a Toronto newspaperthat a friend of mine at CBS sent to me, and she
is really recognisedas an important person in Toronto. Louise Bennett is a very
sophisticatedlady. Her educationis first rate. She couldn't be so politically
accurate,and such a mover and shakeron the cultural scene,if she
in the large brain in house I wasn't possessionof a very ..... our she was quoted.
think that somebodylike that not living out their lastyears in Jamaicais a dying
shame.
DJ: What you are saying is so positive yet speakingto Jamaicanswho camehere in Appendix I Johnson 361
the 1950s,they seemedto havelittle, if anyinterest in Bennettand her work at
I it becauseit highlighted the time. think was so much of what they were about -
YB: So it was embarrassing ?
DJ: I think so
YB: That's here Let Barry Recordhad possible you see. me give you an example....
the first black television play on in this country, called, In the Beautiful
Caribbean he's brilliant brilliant West Indian.... he's highly ... a man, a
political. Barry wrote about the truth in the West Indies and this was a ninety
minute play on BBC I at peak time in the 1970s.They brought over Louise
Bennettto be in it, theybrought Calvin Lochardtfrom Hollywood,Joan-Anne
Maynard, she played the ingenue.I was in somekind of funny production role.
It was showing the West Indies as it is, those people who have culturally closed
mindsand who canbe politically inactive.
DJ: Whatwas the responsehere? AppendixI Johnson 362
YB: First let me tell you it wasbrilliantly done,Philip Saville,one of mostsenior
directors at the BBC directed it. They threw money at it, more than they would
have done for a white production. There were things you know, all set up and
sophisticated,but there were somescenes in down town Kingston in the
wretchedof the earth sort of scenario,and the people here complained.You
know the switchboardwas jammed with West Indians but principally
Jamaicansphoning up to complain that one of the people in the thing had no
shoeson, 'An to seh as if everybodyin Jamaicawalk wid barefootV The sum
total of all the peoplephoning up to complain was that the BBC had shown
someblack people without shoes. Now I ask you, Where is our pride? Where is
our kind of senseof humour? Where is our senseof place not to be able to
those having hard time here recognise..... mind you people were a and people
would laugh at them becausethe uninformed white trash didn't know any better
anyway.They went to work the next day, 'I saw your people and they didn't
baveany sboes on did tbey?'
In this senseLouise would have been an embarrassmentto them, becauseit's
dialectthat she'sspeaking. I havecome across this attitudewith this kind of
people when doing pantomime. Remember,I've been working in this country
since 1971 you know, right, and I meanI was here before then as well, working
in theatre,and I did a LouiseBennett pantomime and the white peoplecame but
the black people didn't want to. They said, 'Oh they're just showing us as if we Appendix I Johnson 363
can't speakproper English'. Sothere is a kind of self-hatredand a kind of
cultural disavowmentthat happens...
DJ: So what about the responsein Jamaicato Louise Bennett?
YB: My impression,from pantomimeis that she was adored.These were the people
that went up into the Gods.They saw themselvesbeing shown on the stage,in
their own true sense,and I don't feel that there was an embarrassment.There's
embarrassmenthere becausewhen you come to England,people make black
people feel that they are insufficient, not quite human.In away somepeople
kind of try to make up for it by being more English than the English. When
Enoch Powell brought black people over from the West Indies to come and
work.. they camehere by invitation you know. They never thought that they
would everbreed that theywould everneed anywhere to live. Theyjust thought
that theywere a kind of extensionof the slavetrade.. so theywouldn't haveany
personalneeds. So as a black person facing an attitude of no dogs no Irish and
certainlyno blacks,you haveto havesome kind of reaction,and I can't knock
it. I'm becomingmuch more understanding of that attitudeto Louise
Bennettnow aswe discussit, but I'd neverreally thoughtabout it you see,
becauseI've never really taken on board that sociological point. Appendix I Johnson 364
DJ: Theattitude is changingwithin that generationbecause their childrenand
grandchildrenhave a needto hold onto their roots and are more positive about
their history. They are being influenced by succeedinggenerations, and so if
anything like Louise Bennett's work is brought into the home, the response,in
many cases,is more welcoming than it would have beentwenty yearsago.
YB: Well I know, I know that myself from working with younger actors,and hearing
my son's views.
DJ: What about Louise Bennett's direct influence on the work that you initially did
in theatre? You played her part and then ?
YB: Well, in the pantomimethe influence is there totally. In the other work I have to
saythat I don't think that sheinfluenced me directly.Overall, I think asa
primary sourcethat was very important. My bent was more for, not for writing
you see,because I knew I letter I always couldn't write, not even a ... always
wantedto interpret. I want to seethe forbearancerather than the present.
DJ: So Louise Bennett is not a direct influence?
YB: Not on my directing work but on the language,and how to approachtext. Appendix I Johnson 365
DJ: Tell me aboutthat.
YB: Louise's text is so muscularand so paired down. I have to cut a lot of the plays
that I do becauseI find sometimesthat West Indian playwrights overwrite, kind
of garrulouson the page.In working with Louise on pantomimesI learrit how
shewould use an inflection, and cut out a whole half a speech.That's the kind
of thing I learnt from her.
DJ: So it's about structure?
YB: Yes. Shewill use one word to sum up, so it requiresattention. Maas Ran was
her cohort you know, but completely different to her. He camefrom the
minstrel background,and had a different approach.The two of them were chalk
andcheese and so madea goodteam. He would go on andon. Rannywould add
words,add and add, and she'd be cutting.If you look at the structureof her
poems,few of them are longer than a page,and look at what they say.
DJ: What about putting her poemsinto performance?
YB: The first thing I ever directed was when I was 14 and I was at school. They
wanted somethingfor some Harvest festival. I got the whole of the fourth form, AppendixI Johnson 366
dressedthem up, insistedon designingall thesecostumes and everything, and
did a dramatisedversion of LinsteadMarket, 'Carry me ackeego a Linstead
Market.' Now that is not a LouiseBennett poem, but I madethe main character
into a kind of Louise Bennettperson, and then stolelines from variouspoems.
addedthem so that it elongatedthe thing and it lastedabout twenty minutes.
Shewouldn't know aboutthis, becauseit was a schoolthing. I was nicking
lines from her poemsto illustrate LinsteadMarket you see.It was a big success,
and the school madea postcardof the castwith a wheelbarrowand.... it's all
very patheticbut that wasthe first thing.
DJ: What about now and doing someof Louise Bennett'swork throughTalawa?
YB: I have never thought aboutthat... Sheis a major cultural figure in Jamaica,but
I'm not surehow it wouldwork here.I usedto run the FestivalCommission for
the JamaicanGovernment, Mr MichaelManley you know.I'd go all roundthe
island judging, adjudicatingvoice and speech,and never, in all the yearsof
doingthat, did I attenda recitalwhere there weren't at leastfive LouiseBennett
poems.Everybody was a miniatureLouise. That's whatyou call having
culturalinfluence. Today, if you go into the countrysideespecially, because
Kingstonis too into Dancehalland Ragga, Even go to St. Catherine,go to
SpanishTown, andLouise is in force.'Colonisation in Reverse,by Louise
Bennett.' Han' a kimbo and they are off. Appendix I Johnson 367
DJ: Canyou imaginefor example,a repeatof, or somethingsimilar to the Zebra
CrossingSeason, having a section where, someof Louise's poemsare
performed?
YB: Yes I could imagine it, but I would give it to somebodyto do who wasn't me.
would give it to a young black British person,and say right, what is cutting
edgeabout this? It couldn't be, oh let's just go and have somerecital of poems
in dialect. For it to work it would have to go out on a limb of its own. You've
set me thinking there-just as we've run out of time.
DJ: It would be great to seeLouise's work performedby Talawa. Yvonne, thank
you very much for sharingyour fascinating experiencesand for giving me so
much of your time.
YB: It has beena pleasure. Appendix 11 Johnson 368
APPENDIX 11
LIST OF TALAWA PRODUCTIONS
1986 THE BLACK JACOBINS by CLR James 21 February- 15 March Performedat the Riverside StudiosLondon Director: Yvonne Brewster
1986 AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Dennis Scott 24 June- 19 July Performedat Drill Hall Arts CentreLondon Director: Yvonne Brewster
1988 0 BABYLON -The Musical by Derek Walcott and Galt McDermot 4 February- 12 March Performedat the Riverside StudiosLondon Director: Yvonne Brewster
1989 THE GODSARE NOT TO BLAME by Ola Rotimi 31 October- 25 November In associationwith the EverymanTheatre Liverpool Performedat the RiversideStudios London and the EverymanTheatre Liverpool Director:Yvonne Brewster
1989 THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST by OscarWilde 19April - 13May Co-productionwith the TyneTheatre Company Newcastle Perfon-nedat the TyneTheatre and Opera House Newcastle and the Bloomsbury TheatreLondon Director:Yvonne Brewster Appendix 11 Johnson 369
1990 THE DRAGON CAN'T DANCE by Earl Lovelace 29 June-4 August Co-productionwith the TheatreRoyal Stratford East Performedat the TheatreRoyal Stratford East, London Director: Yvonne Brewster
1991 ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA by William Shakespeare 16 May - 15 June Co-productionwith the EverymanTheatre Liverpool Performedat the EverymanTheatre Liverpool and the BloomsburyTheatre London Director: Yvonne Brewster
1992 THEROAD by Wole Soyinka 26 February- 28 March Perfonnedat the CochraneTheatre London Director: Yvonne Brewster
1992 SMILE ORANGE by TrevorRhone 28 April - 30 May Perfonnedat the CochraneTheatre London Director:Trevor Rhone
1992 THE LOVE SPACEDEMANDS by NtozakeShange I- 31 October Perfonnedat the CochraneTheatre London Director:Yvonne Brewster 370 Appendix 11 Johnson
1992 NECKLACES by Tariq Ali 6- 31 October Performedat the CochraneTheatre London Director: Topher Campbell
1992 ARAWAK GOLD by CarmenTipling and Ted Dwyer 10 December- 16 January Performedat the CochraneTheatre London Director: Yvonne Brewster
1993 FROM THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA by Dr EndeshaIda Mae Holland I April -I May Co-producedwith the ContactTheatre Company Manchester Performedat the Contact TheatreManchester and the CochraneTheatre London Director: Annie Castledine
1993 THE LION by Michael Abbensetts 30 September- 23 October 3- 13 November Performedat the CochraneTheatre London and the Ward Theatre Foundation Kingston, Jamaica Director London: Horace Ovd Director Kingston: Yvonne Brewster
1994 KING LEAR by William Shakespeare 24 February- 12March Performedat theNia CentreManchester, the Queen'sTheatre Barnstable, the Oxford Playhouseand the CochraneTheatre London Director:Yvonne Brewster Appendix 11 Johnson 371
1994 MOOI STREET MOVES by PaulSlabolepszy 6- 17September A productionby the SouthAfrican CompanyFootpaul presented by Talawa Performedat the CochraneTheatre London Director:Lara Foot
1994 RESURRECTIONS by Biyi Bandele-Thomas 28 September- 29 October Performedat the CochraneTheatre London Director: Yvonne Brewster
1994 MASKERADE by Sylvia Wynter 9 December - 14 January Performedat the CochraneTheatre London Director: Yvonne Brewster
1995 TIS PITY SHE'S A WHORE by John Ford I- 18 November Performedat the Lyric TheatreHammersmith London Director: Yvonne Brewster
1996 ZEBRA CROSSING A six week experimentalseason 19 February- 30 March Performedat the Young Vic Studio London Appendix 11 Johnson 372
From you to me to you by Dorothea Smartt and Sherlee Mitchell Directed by the writers
A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen Director: Indhu Rubashingharn
The men I've had by Amanda Symondsand Warren Mills Directed by the writers
Le soir avec Roney F-M! by Ronald FraserMunro Directedby the writer
The Looking Glass by Kole Onile-Ere Directed by the writer
To Rahtid by Sol B River Director: Yvonne Brewster
1996 MEDEA IN THE MIRROR by Jos6Triana 27 June- 27 July Performedat the Brixton Shaw Theatre London Director: Yvonne Brewster 373 Appendix 11 Johnson
1996/7 BEEF, NO CHICKEN by DerekWalcott 18December -2 February Performedat the TricycleTheatre London Director:Yvonne Brewster
1997 FLYIN'WEST by Pearl Cleage 6 May - 28 June Performedat the Drill Hall London Director: Yvonne Brewster
1997 OTHELLO by William Shakespeare 9 October-I November Performedat the Drill Hall London Director: Yvonne Brewster
1918 ZEBRA CROSSING 2 15 October-7 November Performedat the Lyric Studio HammersmithLondon
Brother to Brother by Michael McMillan Director: Michael Buffong
Brown Girl in the Ring by Valerie Mason-Johnaka. Queenie Director: Valerie Mason-Johnassisted by Greta Mendez 374 Appendix 11 Johnson
Feelin' Different by Elijah Morais Director: Paul J Medford
48-98 by Sol B River Director: Ben Thomas
Getting Ready by Rita Keegan Director: Hassani Shapi
Lost and Found by Richard Hansomand Warren Wills Directed by the writers
Rum Shop Opera by Alexander D Great Director: Greta Mendez
Splinters by Maya Chowdhry Director: Dawn Walton
1998 COUPSAND CALYPSOS by M Nourbese,Philip 4- 28 February Performed at the Oval House London Director: Greta Mendez 375 Appendix 11 Johnson
1999 UNFINISHED BUSINESS by YazmineJudd 30 September- 31 October Performedat the Oval HouseLondon Director:Michael Buffong
2000 THEPRAYER by Grant BuchannanMarshall 5 July - 29 July Performedat the Young Vic Studio London Director: Yvonne Brewster
2001 ONELOVE by Kwame Dawes 6- 28 April 10 - 28 July Performedat the Bristol Old Vic and the Lyric HammersmithLondon Director: Yvonne Brewster Bibliography Johnson 376
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The following bibliography is made up of seven parts as follows:
4p Materialsfrom Talawa's Archives.
9 Interviews.
9 Newspaper Articles and Reviews.
9 Articles from Journalsand Books.
9 Books and Pamphlets.
9 IntemetSites.
o OtherMaterials. Bibliography Johnson 377
Materials from Talawals Archives
As part of researchingTalawa's archives (details given in ChapterOne), videos of Talawa'sproductions, rehearsal scripts, and additional archivalmaterial were analysed (listed below). The productionvideos and the rehearsalscripts are listed together.Where only the script was usedas no video was available(see Chapter One) this is indicatedwith the words 'script only' after the year of Talawa'sproduction. In the caseof OneLove the productionvideo will be filmed in July 2001.
Production Videos and Rehearsal Scripts for Talawa's Productions
Abbensetts,Michael, TheLion (1993)
Ali, Tariq, Necklaces(1992, script only)
Bandele-Thomas, Biyi, Resurrections (1994)
Buchannan-Marshall,Grant, ThePrayer (2000)
Chowdhry,Maya, Splinters (Zebra Crossing Season 2 1998)
Cleage, Pearle, Flyin' West (1997)
Dawes, Kwame, One Love (2001, script only)
Ford,John, 'Tis Pily She'sa "ore (1995)
Great,Alexander D., RumShop Opera (ZebraCrossing Season 2 1998)
Hanson,Richard, and WarrenWills, Lost and Found (ZebraCrossing Season 2 1998)
Holland, EndeshaIda Mae, From the MississippiDelta (1993)
Ibsen,Henrik, A Doll's House(Zebra Crossing Season 1996)
James,CLR, TheBlack Jacobins(1986)
Judd,Yazmine, UnfinishedBusiness (1999)
Keegan,Rita, Getting Ready(Zebra Crossing Season 2 1998)
Lovelace,Earl, TheDragon Can't Dance (1990)
Mason-John,Valerie, Brown Girl in the Ring (Zebra CrossingSeason 2 1998) Bibliography Johnson 378
McMillan, Michael, Brother to Brother (ZebraCrossing Season 2 1998)
Morais,Elijah, Feelin' Different (Zebra CrossingSeason 2 1998)
Onile-ere,Kole, TheLooking Glass (ZebraCrossing Season 1996)
Philip, Nourbese,Coups and Calypsos(1988)
Rhone, Trevor, Smile Orange (1992, script only)
River, Sol B., To Rahtid (Zebra Crossing Season 1996)
River, Sol B., 48-98 (ZebraCrossing Season 2 1998)
Rotimi, 01a, The Gods Are Not To Blame (1989)
Scott,Dennis, An Echo in the Bone(1986)
Shakespeare,William, Anthonyand Cleopatra (1991, script only)
Shakespeare,William, King Lear (1994, script only)
Shakespeare,William, Othello (1997)
Shange,Ntozake, The Love SpaceDemands (1992)
Slabolepsky,Paul, Mooi StreetMoves (1994, script only)
Smartt,Dorothea, and SherleeMitchell, Fromyou to me toyou (ZebraCrossing Season 1996)
Soyinka,Wole, TheRoad (1992)
Symonds,Amanda, and WarrenMills, Themen I've had (ZebraCrossing Season 1996)
Tipling, Cannen,and Ted Dwyer, Araivak Gold (1992)
Triana,Jose, Medea in the Mirror (1996)
Walcott,Derek and Gait McDermot, 0 Babylon - TheMusical (1988)
Walcott,Derek, Beef, no Chicken(1996)
Wilde, Oscar,The Importance ofBeing Earnest(1989)
Wynter,Sylvia, Maskerade(1994) Bibliography Johnson 379
Additional Archival Material
Brewster,Yvonne, Letter to Julie Parker(Artistic Director, Drill Hall), 2 October 1997. SeeTalawa production archives for Othello - correspondencefile.
Busby,Margaret, CLR James:A Biographical lntroduction (unpublished),written for Talawa's 1986production of TheBlack Jacobins.See Talawa productionarchives for The BlackJacobins - productionfile.
Clarke, Austin, Orenthal and Othello: Phohogenic statements made in the Opening Statementand in the Prologue to the play, Othello (unpublished), written as a research packagefor Talawa's 1997 production of Othello. See Talawa production archives for Othello - production file.
Duncan, Cameron (PR Company), Presspack for Talawa's 1997 production of Othello. SeeTalawa production archives for Othello - publicity file.
McSherry,Angela (TalawaAdministrator), Letter to Richard Moffatt (Lighting Designer for Talawa's 1992production of TheRoad), 16 March 1992.See Talawa production archivesfor TheRoad - correspondencefile.
Prasher,Rekha (GLC RaceEquality Unit), Letter to Yvonne Brewster(Artistic Director of TalawaTheatre Company), 29 November 1985.See Talawa productionarchives for The BlackJacobins- finance and funding f ile. Strong,Judith, Talaiva TheatreCompany Feasibility StudyPhase 1: Final Report ComprisingExeculive Summary, Options Analysis, Buildings SearchandAppraisal (unpublished),prepared for Talawa's Board, May 1999.See records of TalawaTheatre Company'sBoard held at the company'sLondon off ice.
Ugwu, Catherine,Talaiva TheatreCompany: Towards 2001- A Paperfor Board Discussionand Decision (unpublished),prepared for Talawa's Board,March 1999).See records of TalawaTheatre Company's Board held at the company'sLondon off ice.
Vir, Parminder(GLC RaceEquality Unit), Letter to Yvonne Brewster(Artistic Director of TalawaTheatre Company, 24 October 1995.See Talawa productionarchives for the The Black Jacobins- financeand funding file.
Wilmott, Diane (Companyand StageManager for TheRoad), Letter to Ms Chungh (GeneralManager at the Cochrane),21 February1992. See Talawa productionarchives for TheRoad - correspondencefile. Bibliography Johnson 380
Interviews
Interviewswith Earl Cameron,Pearl Connor, Cy Grant, Barry Reckordand Alaknanda Samarthon video cassetteand CD rom are housedat the TheatreMuseum Covent Garden London.Audio recordingsof interviewswith the above,Yvonne Brewsterand Ben Thomasare housedat 16 SpenserRoad Herne Hill, London SE24ONR.
Adams,Sam, St. Gabriel's ParishHouse London, Talawa rehearsals for Beefno Chicken, 26 November1996 - Playing Drusilla Douglasin Talawa's 1996/7production of Beefno Chicken.
Sam, in Adams, Talawa offices London, 12 June 1997 - Playing Drusilla Douglas Talawa's 1996/7 production of Beef no Chicken.
Anobil-Dodoo, Freddy, St. Gabriel's Parish House London, Talawa rehearsalsfor Beefno Chicken, 26 November 1996 - Playing The limer and the 2nd Bandit in Talawa's 1996/7 production of Beefno Chicken.
Armstrong,Sarah, Firmenich UK London, I February2001 -African Ritual Theatre.
Baku, Shango,St. Gabriel's ParishHouse London, Talawa rehearsalsfor Beefno Chicken, 26 November 1996- Playing Otto Hoganin Talawa's 1996/7production of Beefno Chicken.
Beckford,Susannah, Talawaoff ices London, 7 March 2001 - Talawa's Funding.
Bee, Sandra,St. Gabriel's ParishHouse London, Talawa rehearsalsfor Beefno Chicken, 28 November 1996- Playing Sumintra,Mitzi and the I` Bandit in Talawa's 1996/7 productionof Beefno Chicken.
Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa offices London, 26 April 1996- Talawa's 1993production of From the MississippiDelta.
Brewster,Yvonne, St. Gabriel's ParishHouse London, Talawa rehearsalsfor Beef no Chicken,20 November 1996- Talawa's 1996/7production of Beefno Chicken. Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa London, offices 6 January1997 - Jean'Binta' Breeze'suse of Languagein Talawa's 1992production of TheLove SpaceDemands.
Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa London, offices 9 January1997 - Brewster'sBiography/ LouiseBennett.
Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa London, offices 9 January1997 - WindrushArrivals/The Barn TheatreJamaica. Bibliography Johnson 381
Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa offices London, 16 January1997 - Brewster'sBiography/ Brewster'sapproach to Directing/VideoingTalawa's performances. Facts. Brewster, Yvonne, Talawa offices London, I March 1997 - Flyin' WestMeritage
Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa off icesLondon, 9 March 1997- Brewster'sapproach to Language.
Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa offices London, 16 March 1997- Brewster'sBiography.
Brewter,Yvonne, Talawa off icesLondon, 12 June 1997- Talawa's 1997production of Flyin' West.
Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa off icesLondon, II August 1997- Othello researchpackage for Talawa's 1997production of Othello.
Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa offices London, 21 February1998 - Talawa's 1997production of Othello/Talawaat The Cochrane.
Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa offices London, 2 October 1998- Emergenceof Black Theatre/Importanceof HeritageFacts.
Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa off icesLondon, 16 March 1999- Languageuse in Talawa's 1993production of TheLion.
Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa off icesLondon, 30 March 1999- Languageuse in Talawa's 1986production of TheBlack JacobinslMusicand danceas a trademark of Caribbean theatre.
Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa offices London, 14 March 2000- Talawa's Future.
Brewster,Yvonne, Talawa offices London, 4 September2000 - Talawa's 1989production of TheImportance ofBeing Earnest.
Brewtser,Yvonne, Talawa offices London, 8 January2001 - Talawa's Future.
Brown, Isolde,Wawick Park SchoolLondon, 10 January1996 - Theatrein Education.
Cameron,Earl, Cameron'sLondon home,26 May 1997- Introductionto Talawa's 1997 Blackgroundsproject.
Cameron,Earl, Cameron'sLondon home,28 May 1997- Cameron'sLife and Work.
Cameron,Earl, Jill Evans'sLondon home,29 May 1997- Cameron'sLife and Work, video recordingfor Blackgroundsproject.
in Cameron,Earl, David Johnson'sLondon home, 12 June 1997- Black Theatre Britain Bibliography Johnson 382 andBermuda.
Campbell,Topher, Talawa offices London, 7 March 2001- Talawa's Future.
Cave,Michael, British Library London, 10 April 2001 - The Journal Newspaper. West. Clayton,Sonj i, Talawaoffices London, 6 April 1997- ResearchPackage for Flyin' in West Clayton, Sonji, Talawa offices London, 12 April 1997 - Heritage facts Flyin' script.
Connor,Pearl, Connor's London home, 13 June 1997- Introductionto Talawa's 1997 Blackgroundsproject.
Connor, Pearl, Connor's London home, 19 June 1997 - Connor's Life and Work.
Connor, Pearl, Connor's London home, 25 June 1997 - Connor's Life and Work, video recording for Blackgrounds project.
Corriette,Anthony, Talawaoff icesLondon, II August 1997- Administration of Talawa.
Davidson,Sofia, CentralSchool of Speechand Drama, 19 October 1999- Being a black dramaStudent at Central Schoolof Speechand Drama.
Desire,Alf, Talawa off icesLondon, 12 April 1997- ResearchPackage for Flyin' West/Heritagefacts in Flyin' Westscript.
Douglas,Tona, MiddlesexUniversity, Middlesex, 7 December2000 - Being a black dramastudent at MiddlesexUniversity.
Findlay,Jim, St.Gabriel's ParishHouse London, Talawa rehearsalsfor Beef no Chicken, 28 November1996 - PlayingMongroo and the Deaconin Talawa's 1996/7production of Beefno Chicken.
Francis,Geff, St.Gabriel's ParishHouse London, Talawa rehearsalsfor Beefno Chicken, 26 November1996 - PlayingCedric and the Mayor in Talawa's 1996/7production of Beefno Chicken.
Grammar,Ghetto, MusicworksLondon, 7 February1996 - Themesin Rap Music. Grant,Cy, Grant's London home, 19 April 1997- Introduction to Talawa's 1997 Blackgroundsproject.
Grant,Cy, Grant's London home,6 May 1997- Grant's Work on Stageand Television in the UK. Bibliography Johnson 383
Work Stage Television in Grant, Cy, Grant's London home, 7 May 1997 - Grant's on and the UK - video recording for Blackgrounds project.
Guardia, Rosario De La, Ealing Tertiary College London, 6 March 1996 - Multicultural Theatre.
Herrod,Sue, Brixton Ritzy London,23 April 1996- Multicultural Theatre.
Holder, Ram John, St. Gabriel's Parish House London, Talawa rehearsalsfor Beef no Beef Chicken, 28 November 1996 - Playing Franco in Talawa's 1996/7 production of no Chicken.
JeanBaptiste, Marianne, Jean Baptiste's London home,20 March 1997- Oscar Nominationfor Best Supportingactress in Mike Leigh's Secretsand Lies (1997). in Jean Baptiste, Marianne, Jean Baptiste's London home, 29 July 2000 - Black Theatre Britain.
Jakubiak,Laura, Commission for Racial Equality, 10 August 1998-Notting Hill Carnival.
John-Jules,Danny, St. Gabriel's ParishHouse London, Talawa rehearsalsfor Beefno Chicken,28 November 1996,Playing Cardiff Joe in Talawa's 1996/7production of Beef no Chicken.
Lofthaus,Joanna, Talawa off icesLondon, II May 1998- Talawa's Education Programme.
Lofthaus,Joanna, Talawa offices London, 7 March 2001 - Talawa's Education Programme.
Mendez,Greta, St. Gabriel's ParishHouse London, Talawa rehearsalsfor Beefno Chicken, 21 November 1996- Movementfor voice work in Talawa's 1996/7production of Beefno Chicken.
Meikel, Michelle, Talawaoff icesLondon, 6 September1995 - Talawa's f listory.
Meikel, Michelle, Talawaoffices London, 20 March 1997- Talawa's 1997Blackgrounds project.
Meikle, Michelle, Talawaoffices London, 12 April 1997- Heritagefacts in Flyin' West script.
Meikel, Michelle, Talawaoffices London,27 May 1997- Talawa's Blackgrounds project. Bibliography Johnson 384
Meikel, Michelle, Talawa offices London, 20 July 1997- Talawa's Education Programme.
Munroe,Julia, Museumof the Moving ImageLondon, 18 July 1997- Theatrein Education.
Philips, Trevor, Noel Gay offices, London, 13 May 1997- Celebratingthe Windrush.
Rahman, Rasheed,Talawa off ices London, 7 March 2001 - Administration of Talawa. 1997 Record, Barry, Record's London home, 10 April 1997 - Introduction to Talawa's Blackgrounds project.
Record,Barry, Record'sLondon home, 15 April 1997- Record's Life and Work.
Record, Barry, Record's London home, 22 April 1997 - Record's Life and Work, video recording for Blackgrounds project.
River, Sol B., St.Gabriel's ParishHouse, London, Talawa rehearsalsfor Beefno Chicken, 19 November 1996- AssistantDirection of Talawa's 1996/7production of Beefno Chicken.
Rotimi, Ola, CedarBridgeAcademy, Bermuda - 18 November 1997- TalawaTheatre Company's1992 production of TheRoad.
Samarth,Alaknanda, Royal FestivalHall London, I May 1997- Introductionto Blackgroundsproject.
Samarth, Alaknanda,David Johnson'sLondon home, 12 May 1997- Samarth'sLife on Stageand Television in the UK. Samarth, Alaknanda,Theatre Museum Covent GardenLondon, 19 May 1997- Samarth's Life on Stageand Television in the UK, video recordingfor Blackgroundsproject. Simpson,Sharon, Warwick Park School London, 10 January1996 - Multicultural Theatre.
Thomas,Ben, Talawa off icesLondon, 8 December1998 - Flyin' West/Being a mixed racePerformer.
Thomas,Ben, Talawa offlicesLondon, 30 August 2000 - Playing Algernon in Talawa's 1989production of TheImportance ofBeing Earnesil Playing Othello in Talawa's 1997 productionof Othello.
Thomas,Ben, Thomas'sLondon home, 2 September2000 - Thomas'sUpbringing. Bibliography Johnson 385
Thomas,Ben, Thomas'sLondon home, 3 September2000 - Thomas'sUpbringing/ PlayingAlgernon in TalaNva's1989 production of Theimportance of Being Earnest/PlayingOthello in Talawa's 1997production of Othellol PlayingFrank in Talawa's 1997production of Flyin' West.
Thompson,Beverley, David Johnson'sLondon home,20 November 1995- Performing LouiseBennett.
Tingle, Faith, St. Gabriel's Parish House London, 3 December 1996 - Playing Euphony Hogan in Talawa's 1996/7 production of Beef no Chicken.
Tompsett, Ruth, Middlesex University, Middlesex,26 April 1996- Black Theatrein Higher Education.
Ugwu, Catherine, Talawa off ices London, 12 September 2000 - Talawa's Artistic Future. Wheeler, Caron, Royal Festival Hall London, I February 2001 - Multicultural Performance.
Williams, Evan, David Johnson'sLondon home,7 January2000 - Black Studentsat The Royal Ballet London.
Williams, Evan, Crystal PalacePark, London, 29 July 2000- Black Theatrein Britain. Williams, Errol, CedarBridgeAcademy, Bermuda - 18November 1997- ClaudeMc Kay.
Williams, Errol, CedarBridgeAcademy, Bermuda- 12 December1997 - Louise Bennett. Bibliography Johnson 386
NewspaperArticles and Reviews
Abdulla, Sara,'Maskeradc', nat's on in London, 21 December1994, p. 76.
Adebayo,Diran, 'Dub poet makeshistory. Splendissimo!', Voice,26 June 1990,p. 11.
Adebayo,Diran, 'The Voice Interview with Trevor Philips: We haveto help thosewith mixed heritage,not saythat they're excludedfrom the club', Voice,27 August 1991, p-I I
Adebayo,Diran, 'After 30-plusyears of dancingin the streets,has Notting Hill Carnival finally lost its soul?', EveningStandard, 23 August 1996,pI (of ES Magazine- Carnival Knowledge).
Adkins, Helen, 'Sweet humourout of horrors', Tribune, 16 April 1993,p. 9.
Anglesey, Natalie, 'The Dragon Can't Dance', Stage, 19 July 1990, p. 12.
Anon, 'Toussaint Louverture, Stage, 19 March 1936, p.9.
Anon, 'The Importanceof Being Earnest',Northern Echo, 21 April 1989,p. 2.
Anon, 'Carnival '92 facesa crashcrisis', Voice,20 August 1991, p.3.
Anon, 'Looking South,Toward Home', People,2 December199 1, p.2 10.
Anon, 'Long and Winding', "at's on in London, II March 1992,p. 54.
Anon, 'The Love SpaceDemands', Mail on Sunday, II October 1992,p. 40.
Anon, 'Derek Walcott, St. Lucia's Nobel Prize Winner', Thecrusader, the people's paper, 17 October 1992,The entire paperis dedicatedto Walcott's life and work.
Anon, 'Arawak Gold', Morning Star, 18 December1992, p. 8.
Anon, 'Fighting for the family', Voice,2 March 1993,p. 3.
Anon, 'A turbulent past', Everywoman,April 1993,p. 2 1.
Anon, 'From the MississippiDelta, Stage, I April 1993,p. 10.
Anon, 'Talawa pleadsfor American actress',Stage, 5 August 1993,p. 2.
Anon, 'Talawa show wi II go on', Voice, 17 August 1993,p. 3.
Anon,"The Lion' roarsat the Ward',Star, 6 November1993, p. 9.
Anon, 'JBC - Thirty Five Years of broadcasting',Outlook Magazine, 10 July 1994, Bibliography Johnson 387 p.1
Anon, 'Maskerade',Sunday Times, 18 December1994, p. 8/34
Anon, 'Tis Pity She'sa Whore', Girl About Town,30 October1995, p. 4.
Anon, 'Tis Pity She'sa Whore', Independent,31 October 1995,p. 2.2 1.
Anon, 'Yvonne Brewsteron a RomanianPhaedra', Guardian, I November 1995, p.S2.15.
Anon, 'Tis Pity She'sa Whore', nat's on in London, I November 1995,p. 5 8.
Anon, 'Pity it's a Bore', The Times, 4 November 1995, p. 19.
Anon, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore', "at's on in London, 8 November 1995, p.57.
Anon, 'Tis Pity She'sa Whore', WeeklyJournal, 9 November 1995,p. 12.
Anon, 'The Modem Husband',ES Magazine(Evening Standard), 17November 1995, p.45.
Anon, 'Here's the beef, Voice, 16 December1996, p. 22.
Anon, 'Flyin' West', Attitude, June 1997,p. 3 8.
Anon, 'Jokesare on hold, for now, Stage, 19 June 1997,p. 10.
Anon, 'Brewster StepsDown', Stage,II September1997, p. 2.
Anon, 'News Snaps:Talawa TheatreCompany', Stage, 2 October 1997,p. 2.
Anon, 'Othello', Voice, 13 October 1997,p. 56.
Anon, 'Carnival: Notting Hill Carnival is more popular than ever. But has its true spirit beenlost for goodT, Journal, 28 August 1998,p. 20.
Anon, 'Carnivals stampof approval', Voice,31 August 1998,p. 3.
Applebaum,Anne, 'Languageis Power', SundayTelegraph, 21 September1997, p. 37.
Arditti, Michael, 'Passionof a black quest', EveningStandard, 6 October 1992,p. 48.
Armistead,Claire, 'Penetratingthe blackout', Ham and High, 20 July 1986,p. 100.
Armitstead,Claire, 'The Importanceof Being Earnest',Financial Pines, 18 May 1989, p.27. Bibliography Johnson 388
Armistead,Claire, 'The DragonCan't Dance', Financial Times,6 July 1990,p. 19.
Armistead,Claire, 'Twisty Road', Guardian, 4 March 1992,p. 36.
Ashante,Infantry, 'Jamaican'royal' reignshereby fosteringjoy of language',Toronto Star, 3 February,1996, p. A2.
Aslka, Uju, 'Flyin' Westto freedom',Journal, 18-24June 1997.As statedin Chapter Five the pagenumber of this review is unavailableas archivesof the Journal are only held in the newspapersection of the British Library for 1993.The Journal collapsedin 1999 andno other public archival recordshave beenkept. The presentwriter possessesa copy of the review without the pagenumber.
Asquith, Ros, 'Strong and Threatening', Listener, 3 July 1986, p.40.
Bandele-Thomas, Biyi, 'Conversation with Earl Lovelace', Voice, 5-11 July 1990, p.21.
B.S, 'Stirring echoes',Voice, 10 July 1986,p. 9.
Barker,Dennis, 'A black look at OscarWilde', Guardian, 13 May 1989,p. 2.
Bartholemew,Roy, 'Homelessbut not Rootless',Independent, I November 1995,p. 10.
Bassett,Kate, 'The Love SpaceDemands' and 'Necklaces', City Limits, 15-22October 1992.As statedin ChapterFive the pagenumber for this review is unavailable.Records of City Limits are held in the newspapersection of the British Library London,until September1992 only. After this point recordscease due to what is documentedin the newspaperarchives as 'end of circulation'. The last recordedcontact details of City Limits appearin, Willings PressGuide VoL I (West Sussex:Reed Information Services, Ltdj 993), p.369. None of the contactdetails pertain to City Limits any longer.The presentwriter possessesa copy of the review without the pagenumber.
Bassett,Kate, 'Reviving a happytradition', Times,14 December1994, p. 34.
Bassett,Kate, 'A complicatedmenu with plenty of spice', Daily Telegraph,15 January 1997,p. 15.
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Billington, Michael, 'The Love SpaceDemands', Guardian, 7 October 1992,p. 36.
Billington, Michael, 'The Law of thejungle', Guardian, 5 October 1993,p. 32.
Bourne,Stephen, 'A peopledenied its greatexpectations', Times Iligher Educational Supplement,25 June 1999,p. v. of 'Race and History: The Anglo-AmericanConference of Historians30 June-2 July 1999'. Bibliography Johnson 389
Brown, Georgina,'Calvary Crosses',Independent, 6 July 1990,p. 13.
Butler, Robert, 'Black and white and noir all over', Independenton Sunday,21 September1997, p. 9.
Buttolph,Angela, 'Be right, be seen,be there', (Notting Hill Carnival) EveningStandard, 23 August 1996,p. 41.
Cadette,Darnell, 'Carnival's bumpy', Voice,24 August 1998,p. 3 1.
Came,Rosalind, 'An Echo in the Bone', Guardian, I July 1986,p. 9.
Carter,Nigel, 'Multicultural or multi-commercial?', CaribbeanTimes incorporating African Times,15 September1992, p. 30.
Cavendish,Dominic, 'Flyin' West', Time Out, 18-25June 1997,p. 139.
Cavendish,Dominic, 'Othello', Time Out, 15-22October 1997,p. 144.
Christopher,James, 'The Love SpaceDemands', and 'Necklaces', Time Out, 14-21 October1992, p. 119.
Christopher,James, 'The Lion', Time Out, 6-13 October 1993,p. 130.
Christopher,James, 'Cry Freedom,Loudly', The Times,13 June 1997,p. 36.
Connor,John, 'An Echo in the Bone', City Limits, 3-10 July 1986,p. 59.
Coveney,Michael, 'The Black Jacobins/RiversideStudios', Financial Times,27 February1986, p. 27.
Curtis,Nick, 'The Love SpaceDemands', Independent, 7 October 1992,p. 23
Curtis,Nick, 'Deep Blues and Black Humour', EveningStandard, 14 April 1993,p. 52.
Curtis,Nick, 'A work in progress',Evening Standard, 3 January1997, p. 49.
Davis, Clive, 'In praiseof cricket and revolution', Guardian, 17 February1986, p. 13.
Douglas,Omega, 'It's Cool for Cats', Voice,23 December1996, p. 23.
Duston,Keith, 'Importanceof being Oscar', SundaySun, 9 April 1989,p. 27.
Edwardes,Jane, 'An Echo in the Bone, Time Out, 2-8 July 1986,p. 38.
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Elmi, Sulaima, 'A grisly comedyof terrors', WeeklyJournal, 14 October1993, p. II-
Forbes,Deidre, 'Two of a Kind. Dynamic Duo: Curtis and Ishmaelon the vergeof TV success,Voice, 21 May 1991,p. 19.
Forbes,Deirdre, 'On The Road', Voice, 10 March 1992,p. 27.
Gardener,Lyn, 'Yvonne Brewster', City Limits, 21-27 February1986, p. 75.
Gardener,Lyn, 'Tis Pity She'sa Whore', Guardian, 7 November 1995,p. S2.10.
Gilbey, Liz, 'Dancing the Dragon', nat's on in London, 27 June 1990,p. 39.
Gilby, Phil, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore', Stage,9 November 1995,p. 12.
Glaister,Dan, 'Film starssnub is no secret:Oscar Actress, hits out at 'old men' of British film industry', Guardian, 15 May 1997,p. 3.
Gordon,Giles, 'Haiti's first revolutionaries',Observer, 2 March 1986,p. 23.
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Gross,John, 'Moor with addedvalue, SundayTelegraph, 21 September1997, p. 11.
Hanks,Robert, 'Tis Pity She'sa Whore', Independent,7 November 1995,p. S 10.
Harry, Allister, 'ForbiddenLove', Voice,31 October 1995,p. 26.
Harry, Allister, 'The Voice Interview: Yvonne Brewster, Enter StageLcft! ', Voice,7 November 1995,p. 19.
Hasan,Fatima, 'Cyril's dancingto his own tune', Voice,26 June 1990,p. 13.
Hemming,Sarah, 'A rum do at the carnival', Independent,4 July 1990,p. 26.
Hemming,Sarah, 'The patois of tiny feats', Independent,21 December1994, p. 21.
Hemming,Sarah, 'Trouble in Trinidad', Financial Times,9 January1997, p. 2 1.
Herrmann,Frank, 'Team spirit revives Otello' (spelt without 'h' in text), SundayTimes, 2 March 1986,p. 4 1. Bibliography Johnson 391
Hewison,Robert, 'Lessonson faith from a trinity of new plays', SundayTimes (Arts Section5), 8 July 1990,p. 6.
Hines, Winsome, 'From the Mississippi Delta', Voice, 20 April 1993, p.27.
Hines,Winsome, 'Once Burnt Syan's Shy', Voice,2 June 1997,p. 23.
Hines,Winsome, 'Flyin' West', Voice, 16 June 1997,p. 52. Ida Horwitz, Simi, 'From Prostituteto Playwright - The life and times of Dr. Endesha Mae Holland', 7heatre Week,16-22 March 1992,pp. 24-28.
Hylton, Teri, 'From the MississippiDelta', Big Issue, 16- 29 April 1993,p. 2 1.
Ince, B. Laurel, 'An Echo in the Bone by Dennis Scott', Caribbean Times,4 July 1986, p.3 1.
Irons,Janine, 'Madge teamswith Talawa', WeeklyGleaner, 5 October 1993,p. 4.
Isaacs,David, 'Skills sweepdoubt away', Journal, 21 April 1989.Page number unavailableas explainedin ChapterSix and as for review by Uju Aslka above.
Jaggi,Maya, 'The Dragon'sDance', WestAfrica, 16-22July 1990,p. 2136.
James,Francis, 'A tour de force by top classgroup', Kilburn Times,9 January1997, p. 17.
Jancovitch,Ben, 'The DragonCan't Dance', City Limits, 12-19July 1990,p. 68.
Johnson,Daniel, 'On the black woman who is the new Nobel Laureate:Of Prizesand Prejudice'(Toni Morrison), The Times,8 October 1993,p. 16.
Jongh,Nicholas De, 'Importanceof Being Earnest',Guardian, 18 May 1989,p. 28.
Julien, Selina, 'Othello', WeeklyGleaner UK, 29 October-4 November, 1997,p. 19.
Jussawalla,Feroza, 'Othello as a voice of Whiteness',Times Higher Educational Supplement,19 March 1999,p. 28.
Kean-Dawes,Jennifer, 'Dear Jamaicahomesickness killing me: Independencefever, ' OutlookMagazine, 10 July 1994,p. 8.
Kean-Dawes,Jennifer, 'Dear Jamaicahomesickness killing me: Servicewith a smile', OutlookMagazine, 17 July 1994,p. 8.
Kean-Dawes,Jennifer, 'Dear Jamaicahomesickness killing me: For the love of money', OutlookMagazine, 14 August 1994,p. 14. Bibliography Johnson 392
Key, Philip, 'Unsolved mysteries- the tale included', Liverpool Daily Post, 25 April 1991, P.9.
Kingston, Jeremy, 'All-blacks tackle Wilde', The Times, 19 April 1989, p.26.
Kingston,Jeremy, 'The DragonCan't Dance', The Times,6 July 1990,p. 18.
Kingston,Jeremy, 'Declining in exile', The Times,6 October 1993,p. 36.
Koenig, Rhoda, 'The Road, Punch, II March 1992, p.4 1.
Lashley,Caroline, 'Bone Active', Voice,week ending28 June 1986,p. 24.
Laville, Sandraand Natalie Clarke, 'Weeks of work to look the part', EveningStandard, 23 August 1996,p. 2 1.
Laville, Sandra, 'Biggest yet, but will sponsorssteal the showT, EveningStandard, 23 August 1996,p. 21.
Lewenstein,Paul, 'An Echo in the Bone', CamdenNew Journal, July 3 1986,p. 10.
Lister, David, 'Can it be wrong to 'black up' for OthelloT, Independent,7 August 1997, p. 13.
Maguire,Maureen, 'The Love SpaceDemands/Necklace', Stage, 29 October 1992,p. 15.
Mandrake,'The unacceptableface of Islam', SundayTelegraph, 3 September1995, p. 30.
Marlowe, Sam,'Othello', nat's on in London,22-29 October 1997,p. 53.
Maye,Yerni, 'Porkpie's TV beef, New Nation, 6 January1997, p. 35.
Maye,Yemi, 'Sparkling Juleshams it up', New Nation, 13 January1997, p. 34.
Maye, Yemi, 'A direction ', New Nation, 20 January1997, 35. womanof .. p.
McDonagh,Melanie, 'Seekingsoul on the hill', EveningStandard, 6 July 1990,p. 34.
McKenley,Jan, 'An Echo in the Bone', City Limits, 19 June 1986,p. 6 1.
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McPherson,Douglas, Tlyin' West', What'son in London, 18-25June 1997,p. 5 8.
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Milne, Kirsty, 'The Isle is full of sponsors',Sunday Telegraph, II October 1992,p. xvi (of Arts iv).
Morgan,Joy, 'Life and times of a Delta force', WeeklyJournal, April 15 1993,p. II-
Morrison,Toni, 'Language,Slavery and Genocide' (Acceptancespeech for Nobel Prize for Literature0 Nobel Foundation1993) WeeklyJournal, 16 December1993, p. 11.
Murray, David, 'The Road', Financial Times, 4 March 1992, p. 15.
Murray, David, 'Caribbean Carnival', Financial Times, 17 December 1994, p. 16.
Nathan,David, 'Travelling a winding, long road', Jeivish Chronicle, 6 March 1992,p. 22.
Nathan,David, 'Beef No Chicken',Jewish Chronicle, 10 January1997, p. 34.
Nightingale, Benedict, 'Proceed, but with caution', The Times, 4 March 1992, p.2 (of Life and Times section).
Nightingale,Benedict, 'Play it again Sam:American Dramatistshave beenunfairly treated',The Times,12 October 1992,p. 3 1.
Nightingale,Benedict, 'Bursting with fresh ideasand talent', The Times, 12 October 1992,p. 33.
Nightingale,Benedict, 'Distant echoesfrom the South', The Times,7 April 1993,p. 30.
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Owen,Michael, 'America, Japan- and Kilburn', EveningStandard, 2 April 1993,p. 26.
Owen,Michael, 'Multicultural productionschanging the faceof theatre',Evening Standard,27 October 1995,p. 14.
Pearce,Edward, 'CaribbeanLament', Punch, II January1997, p. 72.
Peter,John, 'A PopularTouch of Class', SundayTimes, 30 May 1999,p-20.
Philips, Richard, 'Anthony and Cleopatra',Liverpool Echo, 25 April 1991,p-38. Bibliography Johnson 394
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Thaxter,John, 'A meatyand happyrevival', Stage,9 January1997, p. 12.
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Articles from Journals and Books
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Adegbite, A., 'The drum and its role in Yoruba religion', Journal ofReligion inAfrica, 18 (1988), 15-26.
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Aguessy, H., Ta divinit6 Legba et la dynamique du pantheon vodoun au Dan-Home', Cahiers des religions africaines, 7 (1970), 86-96.
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Anon, 'Black TheatreBritish Theatre',Prompt, issue 14 (Aug.1998), 8-10.
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Brewster,Yvonne, interviewedby Lizbeth Goodman,'Drawing the Black and White Line: Defining Black Women'sTheatre', New TheatreQuarterly, Vol. vii no.28 (Nov. 1991), 361-368.
Clarke, Elizabeth,'Black Theatrein England', Banja: A magazineofBarbadian Life and Culture, no. 2 (1998), 60-64.
Cooper,Carolyn, 'Noh Lickle Twang: An Introduction to the Poetryof Louise Bennett', World Literature written in English, Vol. 17 no.I (1984), 318-327.
Cooper,Carolyn, 'Proverb as Metaphorin the Poetryof Louise Bennett',Jamaica Journal, (Aug. 1984),21-24.
Cooper,Carolyn, 'That Cuny JamaOman: The femalesensibility in the poetry of Louise Bennett',Jamaica Journal, Vol. 18 (1986), 2-9.
Cooper,Carolyn, 'Writing Oral History: SISTRENTheatre Collective's LionheartGal' Kunapipi, II no.I (1989), 49-57.
Dash,Michael, 'In Searchof the Lost Body: Redefiningthe Subjectin Caribbean Literature', Kunapipi, II no.I (1989), 17-26. Gloudon,Barbara, 'Twenty Yearsof Theatre',Jamaica Journal, SpecialIssue (1982), Bibliography Johnson 398
63-69.
Gloudon,Barbara, 'The Hon. Louise Bennett,O. J. Fifty Yearsof Laughter',Jamaica Journal, Vol. 19 no.3 (Aug.- Oct.1986), 2-11. Vol-iv Gottlieb, Vera, 'Thatcher's Theatre- or, After 'Equus' ', New TheatreQuarterly, no. 14 (May 1998),99-104.
Harrison,Wilfred, ' 'Othello' in Poland:Notes from a Director's Diary', New Theatre Quarterly, Vol. ii no.6 (May 1986), 154-174.
Hill, Errol, 'Emergenceof a nationaldrama in the West Indies', CaribbeanQuarterly, Vol 18,no. 4 (1972), 9- 40.
Huggan,Graham, 'Opting out of the (Critical) CommonMarket: Creolizationand the Post-ColonialText', Kunapipi, II no.I (1989), 27- 40.
Jeyifo, Biodun, 'On EurocentricCritical Theory: SomeParadigms from the Texts and Sub-Textsof Post-ColonialWriting', Kunapipi, II no.1 (1989), 107-118.
Johnson,David, 'David JohnsonTalks to Yvonne Brewsterabout Louise Bennett', kunapipi,20 no.I (1998), 72-82.
Jones,Nesta, 'Towards a Study of English Acting Traditions', New 7beatreQuarterly, Vol. xii no.45 (Feb.1996), 6-20.
King, Barnaby,'Landscapes of Fact and Fiction: Asian TheatreArts in Britain', New TheatreQuarterly, Vol. xvi part I NTQ 61 (Feb.2000), 26-33.
King, Barnaby,'The Afro-CaribbeanIdentity and the English Stage',New Aeatre Quarterly, Vol. xvi part 2 NTQ 62 (May 2000), 131-136.
in Lagerwerf, L., 'Witchcraft, sorcery and spirit possession- pastoral responses Africa', Exchange 41 (1985), 1-62.
LawsonWelsh, Sarah,'Critical Myopia and Black British Literature:Reassessing the Literary Contributionsof the Post-Windrushgencration(s)', Kunapipi, 20 no.1 (1998), 132-142.
Lawuyi, O.B., and J.K. Olupona,'Metaphoric associationsand the conceptionof death: Analysis of a Yoruba world view', Journal ofReligion in Africa, 18 (1988),2-14.
Logie, Lea, 'Developing a physical vocabularyfor the contemporaryactor', New Theatre Quarterly, Vol. xi no. 43 (Aug. 1995),230-240.
Marinis, Marco De, 'A Faithful Betrayalof Performance:Notes on the Use of Video in Theatre',New TheatreQuarterly, Vol. i no.4 (Nov. 1985),383-389. Bibliography Johnson 399
McAuley, Gay, ' The Visual Documentationof TheatricalPerformance', New Theatre Quarterly,Vol. x no.38 (May 1994), 183-194.
McAuley, Gay, 'Towards an Ethnographyof Rehearsal',New 7"heatreQuarterly, Vol. xiv Part I (NTQ 53) (Feb. 1998),75-85.
Melzer, Annabelle, 'Best Betrayal': the Documentation of Performance on Video and Film', Part 1, New Theatre quarterly, Vol. xi no.42 (May 1995), 147-157.
Melzer, Annabelle, 'Best Betrayal': the Documentation of Performance on Video and Film', Part 2, New Theatre quarterly, Vol. xi no.43 (Aug. - May 1995), 259-276.
Morris, Mervyn, 'On Reading Louise Bennett Seriously', Jamaica Journal, VolA no. 1 (December 1967), 69-74.
Nixon, Jon, 'The Dimensionsof Drama:the casefor Cross-CurricularPlanning', New TheatreQuarterly, Vol. iii no.9 (Feb.1987), 71-81.
NTQ Symposium,'Theatre in Thatcher'sBritain: Organizingthe Opposition',New TheatreQuarterly, Vol. v no.18 (May 1989) 113-123.
Peterson,A., 'Spirit possessionamong the Masai in Tazmania, African Theological Journal, 14 (1985), 174-178.
Richards,Sandra, 'Toward a PopulistNigerian Theatre:the plays of FerniOsofisan', NeIv TheatreQuarterly, Vol. iii no. 11 (Aug. 1987),280-288.
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Scott,Esther Fulks, 'Negroesas Actors in SeriousPlays' Opportunity,April (1923),20- 23.
Sierz,Aleks, ' 'Cool Britania?' 'In Yer Face' Writing in the British TheatreToday' ', New TheatreQuarterly, Vol. xiv part 4 NTQ 56 (Nov. 1988),324-333.
Spencer,Julius, S., 'Storytelling Theatrein SierraLeone: the Exampleof Lele Gbomba', New TheatreQuarterly, Vol. A no.24 (Nov. 1990),349-356.
Trussler,Simon, 'English Acting, Interactive Technology and the ElusiveQuality of Englishness',New TheatreQuarterly, Vol. xii no.45 (Feb.1996), 3-5.
Ukala, Sam,'Impersonation in SomeAfrican Ritual and FestivalPerformances', New TheatreQuarterly, Vol. xvi part I NTQ 61 (Feb.2000), 76-87. Bibliography Johnson 400
Varney, Denise, and Rachel Fensham, 'More-and-Less Than: Liveness, Video Recording, and the future of Performance', New 7healre Quarterly, Vol. xvi part I NTQ 61 (Feb. 2000), 88-96.
From Books
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Cameron, Deborah, Elizabeth Frazer, Penelope Harvey, Ben Rampton and Kay Richardson, 'Ethics, Advocacy and Empowerment in Researching Language', in Sociolinguistics: A Reader and Coursebook, ed. by Nikolas Coupland and Adam Jaworski (London: Macmillan, 1997), pp. 145-162.
Camp,David De, 'Social and GeographicalFactors in JamaicanDialects', in Creole LanguageStudies 11, ed. by R.B. Le Page(London/New York: Macmillan, 1961), pp.61 - 84.
Dahl, Mary Karen, 'PostcolonialBritish Theatre:Black Voices at the Center', in Imperialismand Theatre:Essays on World Theatre,Drama and Performance,ed. by J. Ellen Gainor (London: Routledge,1995), pp. 38-55.
Fishman,Joshua A., 'The Sociologyof Language',in Sociolinguistics:A Readerand Coursebook,ed. by Nikolas Couplandand Adam Jaworski(London: Macmillan, 1997), pp.25-30.
Giles, Howard,and PeterPowesland, 'Accommodation Theory', in Sociolinguistics:A Readerand Coursebook,ed. by Nikolas Couplandand Adam Jaworski(London: Macmillan, 1997),pp. 232-239.
Hodge,Robert, and GuntherKress, 'Social Serniotics,Style and Ideology', in Sociolingusifics:A Readerand Coursebooked. by Nikolas Couplandand Adam Jaworski (London: Macmillan, 1997),pp. 49-54.
Jeyifo, Biodun, 'The Reinventionof TheatricalTradition', in TheIntercultural PerformanceReader, ed. by PatricePavis (London/New York: Routledge,1996), pp. 146- 161.
Lee, Josephine,'Linguistic Imperialism,The Early Abbey Theatre,and The Translations of Brian Friel', in Imperialism and 7"heatre,Essays on World Theatre,Drama and Performance,ed. by J. Ellen Gainor (London/NewYork: Routledge,1995), pp. 164-181. Miller, Errol, ' EducationalDevelopment in IndependentJamaica', in Jamaica in Independence:Essa YS on the Early Years,ed. by Rex Nettleford (London/Kingston: HeinemannCaribbean, 1989), pp. 205-227. Bibliography Johnson 401
Nettleford, Rex, 'Cultural Action in Independence', in Jamaican in Independence: Essays on the Early Years, ed. by Rex Nettleford (London/Kingston: Heinemann Caribbean, 1989),pp. 291-328.
Peters,Julie Stone, 'Intercultural Performance, Theatre Anthropology, and the imperialist Critique: Identities, Inheritances, and the Neo-Orthodoxies', in Imperialism and Theatre: Essayson World Theatre, Drama and Performance, ed. by J. Ellen Gainor (London: Routledge, 1995), p. 199-213.
Savory, Elaine, 'Strategies for Survival: Anti-Imperialist Theatrical Forms in the Anglophone Caribbean', in Imperialism and Theatre: Essays on World Theatre, Drama and Performance, ed. by J. Ellen Gainor (London/NewYork: Routledge, 1995), pp. 243-252.
Schechner,Richard, Intercultural ism and the Culture of Choice', in TheIntercultural PerformanceReader, ed. by PatricePavis (London/New York: Routledge,1996), pp-41 - 50.
Trudgill, Peter,'Acts of Conflicting Identity: The Sociolinguisticsof British Pop-song Pronunciation',in Sociolinguistics:A Readerand Coursebook,ed. by Nikolas Coupland and Adam Jaworski(London: Macmillan, 1997),pp. 251-265.
Ven-na,Jatinder, 'Cultural Transformations',in ContemporaryBritish Theatre,ed. by TheodoreShank (London: Macmillan, 1994),pp. 48-60.
Wolfram, Wait, and Ralph W. Fasold,'Field Methodsin the Study of Social Dialects', in Sociolinguistics:A Readerand Coursebook,ed. by Nikolas Couplandand Adam Jaworski (London: Macmillan, 1997),pp. 89-115. Bibliography Johnson 402
Books and Pamphlets
Abbensetts,Michael, SiveetTalk (London: Methuen, 1974)
Abrahams,Roger D., Theman-of-ivords in the WestIndies, performance and the emergenceof Creole culture (Baltimore/London:John Hopkins University Press,1983)
Adams,L. Emilie., UnderstandingJamaican Patois: An Introduction To Afro-Jamaican Grammar(Kingston: Kingston PublishersLimited, 1991)
Allen, Robert,The Reluctant Informers (New York: Anchor, 1975)
Alleyne, M., Roots ofJamaican Culture (London: Pluto Press, 1988)
Allsopp, Richard,Dictionary of CaribbeanEnglish Usage(Oxford: Oxford University Press,1996)
Anderson,I., and F. Cundall, eds,Jamaica Proverbs(Kingston: Institute of Jamaica, 1910,reprinted, Shannon: Irish University Press,1972)
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Internet Sites
ChapterTwo http: //dev. So-jamaica.com/p, leaner/i 9990812/f5. html -Jamaica's soul and spirit - 08/12/99 http: //w%v%v.pacifinet. net/-iaweb/lou-b. 01.btmi -Louise Bennett -Jamaica Labrish- 20/02/01 http: //Nvwvv.westindiesbooks. com/ - West Indian Literature -21/02/01 http: //ww%v.oneworld. orp-/ni/issue270/sista.htm -A cartoon in the local Creole language by the Jamaican women's theatre collective, Sistren - 21/02/01
ChapterThree http://w%vw. talawa. com/index. htm - Who is Talawa?:Talawa's profile and mission statement- 06/03/01 http://www. talawa. com/talawashistory. htm - Talawa's History - 06/03/01 http://www. talawa.com/educationalprojects. htm -Talawa's EducationProjects - 06/03/01 http://members. tripod. com/-bigyard/index. htmi - Big Yard Videos StarringOliver Samuels- 06/03/01 http://w,, v-vv.hackneyempire. cO. uk/html/about. htm - The HackneyEmpire - 06/03/01 http://%vwNv. talawa.com/yyonnebrewster. htm - Biographyof Brewster- 08/03/01
ChapterFour
http://wNýv. stiz. brown. edu/projectslhypertextllandow/postlpoldiscourse/iames/iames3. htmi Political Discourse Theories - - of Colonialism and Postcolonialism- CLR James:an Introduction,by Benjamin Graves '98 Brown University - 17/07/99
http://N"vw. stR. bro,, vn. edu/projects/hypertext/landow/post/poldiscourse/ james/ james4. html Political Discourse Theories Colonialism - - - - of and Postcolonialism- The Black Jacobins:A Classanalysis of Revoltion, by Benjamin Graves98' Brown University 17/07/99 -
http://wxv,. html v4.nando. net/prof/caribe/orijzins. - Origins of Voodoo- 17/07/99 Bibliography Johnson 416 http://ývNv,, v.stg. brown. edu/projects/hype/hypertext/landow/post/caribbean/lovelace/bio.ht ml - Literature of the Caribbean -A brief Biography of Earl Lovelace by David P.Lichtenstein - 17/07/99 http://wwNv. nottinahillcamiival. net.uk - The Notting Hill Camival - 17/07/99 http: //w%vw. thechronicle. demon.co. uk/tomsite/capsule. htm - The Shaping of Black London: A Capsule History in of Black settlement Britain's capital - 17/07/99
Chapter Five http://NvNv%v. rentuk.com/content. hmt - The Musical Rent- 23/07/00 http://w%v%v. coax.net/people/lwf/places. htm -Nicodemus Kansas-23/07/00 http://v"v%v. coax.net/people/lwf/nic abt.htm - The NicodemusHistorical Society- 23/07/00 http://%vwNv. bw. coax.net/peol2le/lwf/nic htm - Black Womenin the Wild West- 23/07/00 http://Nv,, v%v.udavton. edu/-dunbar/biopld. htm -Biography of Paul LaurenceDunbar- 23/07/00 http://ývw%v. udavton. edu/-dunbar/p, allery. htm - Paul LaurenceDunbar- The Collection/Dunbar'sWork - 23/07/00 http://vvmv. coax.net/people/lwf/bawmus. htm - Black American West Museumand HeritageCenter - 23/07/00 http://Nvww. snowcrest.net/izeography/poweEpoint/blackamericans/sldO2O. htm -A Slide Portrayalof Blacks in AmericanFilm - 23/07/00 http://wývw. levity. com/cordupy/ - David Mamet - 23/07/00 http://Nv%vw. albemarle-london.com/plays. htmi, - Albemarleof London's West End Theatre Guide - Playsand Comedies- 24/07/00
http://%"vw. html albemarle-london.com/delicate. -A Delicate Balance- 24/07/00 http://wývw. fas. harvard. htmi edu/-art/albee2. - EdivardAlbee - 24/07/00 http://%vxvw. freeserve. musicals. co.uk/listinjzs. htm - Listings for West End and Broadway Musicals- 24/07/00 http://ww%v. crosswinds.net/-deeljea/movielist. htmi - Black Movie List- 25/07/00 Bibliography Johnson 417 http://Nvww. albemarle-london. com/plays. htmi - Playsand Comedies- 25/07/00 http:Hmusicals-net/ - BroadwayMusicals - 25/07/00 http://www. en2l.virizinia. edu/-enwrIO16/amcd2/cosby.htmi - TheCosbyShow Changesthe Way Blacks are Viewed, by Anthony Crenshaw - 28/07/00 http://www. filmunlimited. co. uk/news stoM/guardian/0.4029.68705.OO. htm OscarActress hits out at 'old men' of British film industry: The work of MarianneJean Baptiste- 31/07/00 http://www. pandon.demon. co. uk/b. html#32 - Listing of new titles from Bloodaxe Books with a biography of Jean 'Binta' Breeze - On the Edge of an Island - 01/08/00 http://www. olemiss. edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/Nvilliamstennessee - Tennessee Williams - 01/08/00 http://www. albemarle-london. com/plays. html, - Albemarle of London's West End Theatre Guide- Playsand Comedies- 02/04/01 http://www. albemarle-london. com/mt-sunmarriaize. htmi - Finding Me SunlMarriage Play, Albernarlesof London's WestEnd TheatreGuide - 02/04/01
http://www. albemalre-london. com/bostonmarriage. htmi - BostonMarriage - Albemarle of London'sWest End TheatreGuide - 02/04/01.
http://www. albemarle-london. com/lionkinR. htmi - Disney's TheLion King - Albemarle of London'sWest End TheatreGuide - 02/04/01
http://www. albemarle-london. com/fame. htmi - Fame TheMusical - Albemarle of London'sWest End TheatreGuide - 02/04/01
http://scifimovies. about. com/movies/scifimovies/libraa/bisiackson. htm? terms=Samuel+L SamuelL Jackson Mace Windu in The PhantomMenace 03/04/01 +jackson- .... -
http://www. izeocites. com/Holly3vood/Set/2608/si-ibio. html - Biographyof SamuclL Jackson- 03/04/01 http://www. imbd. us. com/Name?Bassett. +Angela - Angela Bassett- 03/04/01 http://mrshowbiz. go.com/people/jadapinkettsmith/content/credits. htmi - JadaPinkett Smith: Credits- 03/04/01 http://mrshowbiz. %zo.com/people/jadapinkettsmith/content/bio. html - JadaPinkett Smith -03/04/01 http://mrshowbiz. go.com/people/wilismith/content/credits. html -Will Smith: Credits - Bibliography Johnson 418
03/04/01 Wesley Snipes: http: //mrshowbiz. lzo.com/people/wesleysnipes/content/credits. html - Credits - 03/04/01 Jr.: http: //mrshowbiz. jzo.com/people/cuba2oodingjr/content/credits. html - Cuba Gooding Credits - 03/04/01
ChapterSix
Othello http:tech-two. mit. edu/Shakespeare/Traizedy/othello/othello. html - Othello -02/09/00 http://encarta. msn. com/find/concise. asp? z--I&pg-72&tr--02989000 -William Shakespeare- 02/09/00 Shakespeare'sOthello http: //hubcap.clemson. edu/-rosea/filmhist. htmi - Film History of -02/09/00 http://www. film. com/f'ilm-review/1995/9213/8/default-review.htmi -'OliverParker takestragedy too seriously', by Dan Savage- 02/09/00 http:eonline. com/Facts/Movies/0`/`2C60ý/ý2C6/904ý/`2COO. html - The facts: Olhello - 02/09/00 http://artsci. washinaion. edu/drama-phd/pmhome. htmi - Representationsof India and Indian Culture - 02/09/00
The Importanceof Being Eamest
http://IandoW. stiz. brown. edu/victorian/decadence/wilde/wildebio. htmi -The Pictureof OscarWilde: A Brief Life, by William Terpening- 02/09/00
http://landow. stg. brown. edu/victorian/decadence/wilde/wildeti. htmi -OscarWilde Chronology- 02/09/00
http://landow. stg. brown. edu/victorian/vn/victor/htmi -The Reality of Victorianism, by GeorgeP. Landow- 02/09/00
http://Iandow. stg. brown. edu/victorian/vn/victor4. htmi - Victorian and Victorianism, by GeorgeP. Landow- 02/09/00 http://landow. brown. htmi Race Class stR. edu/victorian/histo!ýý/race/rcov. - and Overview: Parallelsin racismand Class,by Anthony S.Wohl - 02/09/00 Bibliography Johnson 419
by http: fll andow. stiz.b rown. edu/vi ctori an/vn/vi ctor I O.h tm I -Newman on the Gentleman, George P. Landow - 02/09/00 Bibliography Johnson 420
Other Materials
In the caseof materialslisted below that are widely availableto the generalpublic the presentwriter hasnot statedwhere his particular copy was obtained.The presentwriter possessescopies of all the following items exceptthe first.
Anon, CaribbeanFocus Unit I&2: Pan CaribbeanTheatre Company - SisteenLondon: CommonwealthInstitute, 1986.Videotape Class mark: NVS(YQ). Locatedat the CommonwealthInstitute London.
Bennett,Louise, Miss Lou and Friends: Jamaica'sfirst lady ofcomedy (video recording by the InternationalTheatre Institute of Jamaicaat The Little Theatre,Kingston, 27 March 1990.Videotape bought in Kingston by presentwriter.
Dion, Celine, Treat Her Like A Lady, from the C.D. album Let's Talk About Love, (London: LushmoleMusic (BMI)/MCA Music Publishing, 1997).
Harewood,David, Royal National Aeatre World Tour of Othello 1998,(videodiary by Harewoodplaying Othello) BBC2,4 October 1998.Copied from the BBC archives.
Johnson, Kwesi, Linton, Upon West Minster Bridge: A tribute to Jamaica's dub poet Mikey Smith, BBC television's, Arena, 23 November 1982. Copied from the BBC archives.
Luhrman, Baz, film version of Romeo andJuliet, (1996).
Man, Beenie, WhoAm 1? C.D. single, (Jamaica:Greensleeve Records Ltd., Middlesex, 1998).
Parker,Oliver, film version of Othello 1995.
Quarshie,Hugh, SecondYhoughts about Othello, basedon Quarshie'sessay, 'Hesitations on Othello', given as the Birthday Lectureat the ShakespeareCentre, Stratford upon Avon, 24 April 1998.Loaned to presentwriter by actressMarianne Jean Baptiste.