Guess Who's taking Back Their Places at Dinner?
✮✮✮✮
Nakkiah Lui's Black is the New White
Sydney Theatre Company | Sydney
directed by Paige Rattray
Charlotte worries about being too white, or to be more accurate, she carries shame about her life not being black enough. The blood in her veins is Aboriginal but having been born into great privilege, she can only observe, what she considers an authentic black experience, from afar. In Nakkiah Lui’s new play Black is the New White, we visit a wealthy black home, through what could be the whitest of storytelling genres possible, the Christmas family comedy.
The show is very funny. Indeed, the jokes do at times, sit on a level of superficiality characteristic of the format, but Lui’s relentless need to interrogate the state of Aboriginal politics allows her show to speak in any tone it wishes, while always retaining a gravity that justifies the exercise, along with providing an extraordinary level of intellectual involvement that keeps us firmly engaged. The work has a specificity that feels completely of the moment; its language, its concerns and its ideas are thoroughly modern. It articulates what we are thinking, however, have hitherto been unable to discuss with great fluency. It allows the convoluted disarray of contemporary Aboriginal perspectives surrounding issues of colonialism, be magnificently displayed in all its unresolved vexations. The play is an important timestamp that chronicles the discontent inherent in today’s social dynamics and at the same time a fantastic piece of entertainment with a surprisingly wide appeal.
Paige Rattray demonstrates excellent flair for the sardonic with Black is the New White. Very pointed observations are made agreeable and dark subject matter is turned satirical; we are all compelled to have a sense of humour, at Rattray’s insistence. Big conversations between its characters about Australian morality are finely gauged, so that we receive the full impact of what each person is saying. We analyse their upper-middle class lives as their stories unfold before us, but cannot escape shades of complicity, while we inevitably recognise ourselves in so much of the blistering dialogue.
A spectacular cast of nine is fierce and commited, determined to enthral and educate. Each vibrant actor offers up a personality that is detailed and authentic. We get to know them with extraordinary familiarity. Not all are picture perfect and several prove themselves to be quite nasty people. Yet through their charm we fall head over heels nonetheless.
Charlotte is played by Shari Sebbens, a performer especially effective when things gets politically combative. The conviction she brings is impressive, leaving no room to doubt her very edifying intentions and desires. Melodie Reynolds-Diarra is commanding in her maternal role, incisive with her humour, but adoringly warm as leader of her pack. Remarkably elegant, she delivers some of the play’s biggest laughs with candour and ease. The narrative’s pivotal parts of duelling fathers, are played mischievously by Tony Briggs and Geoff Morrell, both imaginative and effervescently confident with what they introduce to the stage. Their bickering is hilarious, and the actors’ chemistry as an unexpected pairing, is a highlight.
Set design is brilliantly conceived by Renée Mulder, who establishes five separate performance spaces within the interiors of a very glamorous house. Aesthetically refined and superbly functional (without relying on moving parts), it presents comfortable aspects to all seats in the auditorium, although decoration and costumes could benefit from a bolder, more adventurous approach.
There are many ways to talk about race. The joy of being able to partake in its pluralist approach to these difficult matters, makes Black is the New White uniquely refreshing. The people we meet may have differing views, but they are all likeable. As audience, we are then given permission to agree with contradictory points of view, or at least, are encouraged to take moments to appreciate what our adversaries value. It is a messy affair at the Gibson household (complete with an epic food fight), and although the stories all conclude nicely, à la Hollywood (and Bollywood), the issues that had been brought up do not diminish. Money can solve many problems, as we witness at this spirited Christmas gathering, nonetheless it is how we move our rich resources around that will bring about the improvements we desperately need.
photo | ©Prudence Upton
