MARIA DUARTE reviews Desperate Journey, Blue Moon, Pillion, and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
A Kind of People, Royal Court Theatre London
Thought-provoking exploration of race and class issues in Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's new play
IS IT possible to keep prejudice at bay by “not seeing” someone’s race while being sufficiently aware of it to ensure we're not denying their identity? Should we even be trying to do either of these things?
Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's unsettling new play tackles these dilemmas by looking at the fortunes of the black Gary and the white Nicky, a working-class couple with three kids whose happy existence is undermined by events at Gary’s workplace.
When Gary finally reacts to what he perceives as years of low-level, more-or-less covert racism by work colleagues, his decisive response gives him a new sense of pride and purpose. Yet it simultaneously throws everything else, including his relationship with Nicky, into deep confusion.
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