Stephen, an international education consultant, goes to about 20 theatre shows a year. “It’s a lot compared with most Londoners,” he says, “and every time, it’s the same crowd. It’s very white and it’s a shame – theatre is for everyone.”
On Monday night, he was going to see Blue at the Seven Dials Playhouse during one of its Black Out night performances. On these nights “the Black community is invited to enjoy the show and welcome to linger after the performance with the playwright, cast and director”, the theatre’s website says.
The show is still open to everyone, but the theatre “encourage[s] anyone outside the Black or Brown identifying community to consider another night, if possible”. Discounted tickets are also available.
Stephen doesn’t see the big fuss. “I don’t really see what the issue is to be honest. We live in London, a very multicultural city, where there are Catholic schools, Jewish-only schools, gentlemen’s clubs, gay nights. What’s the big deal?
“Essentially, it’s a safe space that means it’s just an evening where you can react and feel how you want to feel,” he says. “And sometimes you don’t feel like that with a mixed crowd. I want to say mixed – I didn’t just mean a white crowd.”
Recent Black Out performances have come under scrutiny after Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson said it was “concerning” that the Noël Coward theatre in the West End planned to hold them during a two-month run of Slave Play, a Broadway production about race and sexuality.
“The arts should be inclusive and open to everyone, particularly where those arts venues are in receipt of public funding,” the spokesperson said.
Asked whether he was shocked by the government’s reaction, Stephen says: “This government’s response is gonna be how it is because it’s trying to take everybody off the edges and just wants everybody to be on the right”.
Black Out nights are offered by the theatre when “a show’s subject matter might be more comfortable when surrounded by more peers who share a common experience”. They also offer “relaxed” performances for people who experience sensory sensitivity.
Blue, which runs from 5 to 30 March, is about a Los Angeles police detective who is investigating a case where one of her own is suspected in the shooting of a Black motorist. There are two Black Out nights during this run.
One theatregoer, who preferred not to be named, said she “found it a bit odd” when reading up on the show. “For me, if you want a world where we’re all united, of oneness, you don’t start making nights where ‘you shouldn’t come to this’.
“It almost sounds like the back door when you say Blacks only and in this day and age it seems odd,” she says.
Her friend, an international chatshow host who also preferred not to be named, added that it was partially down to “our mindset”.
“I will say, within our community, we have to change our mindset around things as well because it’s not always that we’re excluded. It’s sometimes because we have this narrative. I go into lots of spaces that aren’t necessarily seen as Black, and that’s because I feel I can.
“I asked a friend to come and he said: ‘I don’t get it, I don’t get that type of mentality’. That’s why we’re going on to see what it’s about,” she adds.
Jonathan, 26, who was attending the show with his girlfriend, said he thinks these nights are needed. “It’s not about saying white people aren’t allowed, it’s about saying Black people are welcome.
“I think overall it’s a good thing, I can understand where some of the backlash comes from but, at the end of the day, the producer of the play can show it to whoever they want. It’s their art. If the producer of the play says they want Black people to come, that’s their decision.”
