'Free from the white gaze': Stage play sets dates for 'black identifying' theatergoers only in London

A stage play in London set summer dates for "black identifying" theatergoers only, keeping the patrons of color "free from the white gaze."

What are the details?

"Slave Play," written by American playwright Jeremy O. Harris, will run at the Noël Coward Theatre in the West End from June 29 to September 21, the Independent reported, adding that two dates have been set aside for an “all-black identifying audience.”

The paper said “Black Out” tickets for performances on July 17 and September 17 will be sold only to those who identify as black, allowing them to be “free from the white gaze."

Harris told BBC Sounds he's “excited” for the "Black Out" performances, noting that "it is a necessity to radically invite them in with initiatives that say, ‘You’re invited.’ Specifically you," the Independent said.

The paper added that Harris in 2019 came up with the "Black Out" dates idea for his "Slave Play," which is about race, sex, and power dynamics in interracial relationships.

“The purposeful creation of an environment in which an all-Black-identifying audience can experience and discuss an event in the performing arts, film, athletic, and cultural spaces — free from the white gaze," reads a website describing the initiative, according to the Independent.

More from the paper:

It is not the first time Harris’s work has featured Black Out performances in London – his play, "Daddy," staged the nights in 2022.

Last year, producers of the satire "Tambo & Bones" allocated one night during its month-long run at Theatre Royal Stratford East for Black audiences to enjoy the experience in a safe place free from racializing dynamics.

"Over the last few years, a number of playwrights and directors in the U.S. and the U.K. have created private and safe spaces for Black theatregoers to experience productions that explore complex, nuanced, race-related issues," "Tambo & Bones" director Matthew Xia explained on the Stratford East website, according to the Independent. “I felt that with a play like 'Tambo & Bones,' which unpicks the complexity of Black performance in relation to the white gaze, it was imperative that we created such a space.”

"Slave Play" will co-star Olivia Washington, daughter of two-time Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington, the paper noted.

Here's a 2021 clip showing "Slave Play" in the run-up to its then-expected return to Broadway:

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