Ryan Calais Cameron’s last play (garethjames.uk/2022/04/27/For-Black-Boys-Who-Have-Considered-Suicide-When-the-Hue-Gets-Too-Heavy) was a very contemporary piece which moved from the New Diorama to the Royal Court to the West End. This new play could not be more different, moving back in time to 1950’s America at a pivotal point in both the Civil Rights movement and Senator McCarthy’s UnAmerican Activities committee, but like its predecessor it packs an extraordinary punch, in this case in just ninety minutes.
It’s set in the office of the NBC studio lawyer in Hollywood. Sidney Poitier is coming to sign his contract to appear in his white friend Bobby’s movie. It’s been a lean time since his breakthrough film Blackboard Jungle and his card has been marked by declining a role which he found unpalatable. Bobby is there at the beginning of the meeting, but after he leaves things take a dramatic turn. Parks, the lawyer, makes it clear he must sign an oath of allegiance and agree to make a statement on radio denouncing a fellow actor as a communist as a condition of getting the part. The actor is his idol Paul Robeson. He needs the work, but the price is high. We learn who’s really behind this blackmail and why his signature is so important; he will become a poster boy for them. Bobby returns and is horrified by what has gone on. He has his own dilemma – without Poitier he either has to recast or abandon his film.
It’s brilliantly written, creating an extraordinary tension in the theatre. The audience is so engaged that action and lines elicit applause and gasps. This is helped by three stunning performances. it’s a credit to Daniel Lapaine that you quickly turn against Parks and continue to find him and his attitudes and actions repulsive throughout the play. Our empathy with Ian Bonar’s Bobby grows as his friendship and commitment to Poitier grows. Ivanno Jeremiah has impressed me before on stage, notably in Constellations with Shiela Atim, and he reaches a new high here with a cool yet deeply passionate portrayal of Poitier. Frankie Bradshaw’s uber-realistic design anchors the play in it’s time and location and Amit Sharma’s staging is masterly.
World class theatre in Kilburn which also deserves to head ‘up west’ and indeed across the Atlantic. It confirms Ryan Calais Cameron as a rare talent and I for one can’t wait for his next play. Until then, if you love theatre you’ll head to the Kiln before the month is out.
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