To think Black Out nights in theatre ARE important

[PenguinLord]

I know there was a theatre that did it last year and a thread about it- but there is a West End venue this year which will host two or three black out nights (where "all-black-identifying audiences" are invited) of the Slave Play. I had mixed feelings, but after having read a few articles on it, I actually agree with the concept- for the record I am very much white.

Spokesperson for the PM criticised black out nights saying "“The prime minister is a big supporter of the arts and he believes that the arts should be inclusive".

But let's face it, theatre experience is far from inclusive or accessible. Having 2 out of a few dozen nights will not really make a difference, nor excludes people who are not black to attend literally 80 if not more other performances. I was in theatre this week, and had a good look around. 98% of the audience were white. There were a few Asian people and 1 (one) black person- in the audience of around 300.

I suppose Id be far less likely to attend an event where I would stick out like a very sore thumb, is it really such a big deal to have two performances where people who dont usually feel theatre is an inclusive space can feel welcome, surrounded by people that belong to the same community?

But no one is denying you your experience nor saying it's OK- it's just this thread is about something else? The fact you dont care about it does not really make it nonsense...

Edited because I reread and misunderstood what you meant.

This 👏🏻

So you're only bothered about the racism that effects you personally, the rest is all 'nonsense'?

Racism bothers me very much. There's enough of it about already without people inventing more of it like they have done for this stupid event.

No. But when there's enough actual racism going on why do they feel the need to focus on a Mon existent issue.

Just so I’m clear, what do think the non existent issue is here?

What if it were the other way around though?! Only white people! Just seems odd.

Why is this a non existent issue?

They aren't trying to combat racism with this night, or do anything other than encourage a group of people who are effected by the issues in the play to gather together and see it together as a shared experience.

What's wrong with that?

I presume that you do understand that it would be completely different if it were "the other way round"? The historical context is everything here.

The "what if it were the other way round" argument is so fucking tedious.

It WAS 'the other way round', for centuries.

Minority groups are living with the effects of those centuries of oppression every day.

So if a minority group wishes to gather together and watch something meaningful about what happened in their community what is the issue exactly?

Yes, it was true. We abolished it over here, via the very white Wilberforce.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilberforce

The emphasis on black communities and neglect of our biggest ethnic minority (Asian communities), the focus on slavery (we didn't have slaves here in the same way as the US, in fact we had a history of white slaves if anything), and language used by PPs ("butt hurt", "you don't get to....") reinforces the notion that this anti-racism movement is just an American import designed as an economic tool

You realise this has been the case for centuries already...

Wow! This is why such nights are needed, because someone will be hard pressed to make this point!
It’s the equivalent of NAMALT, when speaking to male abuse survivors.

1. It highlights for non-Black people that it didn't feel very nice to be barred from events solely due to the colour of your skin.
2. It allows Black people, who are far more likely to have some ancestral slavery / kidnap experience, to feel all their emotions in a more cohesive "group" way.
3. It's an artistic point being made about point 1, turning the paradigm on its head.

Lots of points can be made about black slave-selling tribes, or slavery-fighting white people, or slave white people (see Romans and Greeks), or starving other white people, or a host of other semi-related topics. If someone else feels those are really important, then I suggest they can write their own play and bar Italians, Greeks, or whoever. As long as it's all cohesive with the point the author and director are trying to make, that would be fine too.

But we are talking about a black issue. No one is suggesting that there are not issues against other minority groups. Why when we are talking about black issues is there always a need to bring in other races? All things can and do coexist!

This threads just proves the point of why these conversations are needed. The issue of racism in this country is such a day to day issue is terrifying. Genuinely, why is it so hard to accept that black people have been the victims of some of the most horrific human rights abuses in the history of the human race and yet, expected to get over it? Despite the face that much of the lived experiences of black people today is based on the same ideologies that led to those abuses in the first place? Why if that so hard to understand?

My female-only point was about women requiring single-sex spaces for reasons of privacy, dignity and safety - and Medschoolmum argued that some men might say this was unnecessary - NAMALT etc - so it isn't up to white people to say how black people might feel in a space that wasn't exclusively black. I said that it was statistically undeniable that women are safer in single sex spaces so using an argument that the way women feel about single sex spaces was based on perception was wrong. It's a bad parallel.

We will have to agree to disagree that it's not 'othering' and divisive. Openly discussing racism - both current and historic - and at the same time perpetuating it by requesting segregated events doesn't seem a very progressive, unifying, approach to take to me.

Every major religion and every race will have their own experiences of current and historic prejudices and atrocities. Are we to see a world where we can only watch art in the 'safety' of people from the same race or the same religion?

I agree. And I can totally see how it would be a more comfortable experience at a play about slavery. I’m white too.

The nearest i can get to this is imagining a play about women’s history and their being a women’s only night. Which again many might appreciate.

Surely most people are aware that it isn't nice to be barred from events solely due to the colour of your skin without the need to experience it themselves? By your logic, should black people also start enslaving white people so they can understand it's not nice to be enslaved? Should women have free rein to sexually abuse men so they can understand that it's not nice to be sexually assaulted?

The arab slave trade enslaved millions of white people across many centuries; would you support a play about it from which arabs were banned?

Lol

Or its just a unnecessary divisive idea that some people are daft enough to fall for the marketing of.

No one is banned….

Every major religion and every race will have their own experiences of current and historic prejudices and atrocities. Are we to see a world where we can only watch art in the 'safety' of people from the same race or the same religion?

I think that would be a great idea actually.

A couple of nights out of a couple of months worth where the people who are directly effected by the storylines in the play are encouraged to gather and see it together as a shared experience. I would 100% support that.

I was replying to "If someone else feels those are really important, then I suggest they can write their own play and bar Italians, Greeks, or whoever. As long as it's all cohesive with the point the author and director are trying to make, that would be fine too."

I think it's great, if it gets people into theatre who might otherwise feel marginalised.
It's the same for working class people of all races, but I understand how little representation POC can visualise in theatre and the arts, though this is thankfully changing.
These nights don't exclude white people, my family are mixed so I'm white but have black cousins. But to make something feel available when previously it might not have can only be a positive.