Black out performances

Yes but it isn't though is it? It is very specifically a play from a black person's perspective. I honestly don't see why people are so angry. Nobody is being excluded, anybody can come if they want to, white people are just politely being told that one performance out of many is for a black audience. If we were talking about actual discrimination and tickets not being sold to a certain demographic, then there would quite rightly be huge controversy. But this is just right wing faux outrange over a non issue.

Absolutely. I just don't see what all the fuss is about. There are over thirty performances of this play, yet people are up in arms about one single night in which the makers have politely asked should be attended by an all black audience as a communal experience, and even then it says quite clearly that anybody is free to attend.

There you go again ascribing attitudes to people on here who have not demonstrated those behaviours.

I genuinely do not believe it is right for ANY arts event to demand, require or request that a specific group be the only ones to experience it. Even for one performance.

And for all the talk of not excluding anyone, that is what this sort of event actually wants to achieve.

The arts should be for all. If producers and venues want to take steps to encourage participation from groups who do not normally access their events, then that is exactly what should be happening. Accessibility is vital.

But you don't build communities by excluding people - even asking people to self exclude runs contrary to the idea of broadening access and participation.

When I look around theatre audiences i definitely see elderly white people as most of the audience.
I cannot imagine what it feels like to be in an audience that seems “unfamiliar” to me (I am white).
I do know that I have no “history” in my family of theatre, and that it took some courage to start watching theatre and feel that I “belonged” there.
So…..if this is an attempt at making black people feel comfortable and to perhaps have the confidence to see theatre, when they haven’t before, then I’m fine with this.
And to those who object and say “where will it all end”, I’d say, put yourself in others shoes and be open to encourage people who don’t currently go to theatre, by all means possible. It’s only 1 performance and you can still go if you want to! It’s about removing barriers and creating confidence for a section of people not fully represented in current audiences.

Sorry that posted too soon!

I wanted to respond to latecomer’s post. I recently went to ‘All the Black boys’ and it was a really interesting experience for me ( as well as an enjoyable play). It was the first time I had been in a minority in the audience and it made me reflect on how I’d never really ‘felt’ before (even if I knew logically) how similar many theatre audiences are, and what it feels like not to be in the majority. In an ideal world this wouldn’t matter, but I found it did, or rather it definitely made the experience less comfortable ( and I should add no one in the audience made me feel uncomfortable or unwelcome!).

So I’m also in the camp of thinking this doesn’t do any harm and if it allows a community that, on the whole, has greater barriers to theatre going to experience the play in a way that feels more welcoming/easy then it is to be welcomed.

When you go to a show by a black writer or team, dealing with subjects that may resonate more with black people's lived experience, you tend to see far more black people in the audience, wether that's in London or Manchester or wherever in the UK. Britain seems to be doing pretty well, much better than the USA - many of my friends & some relatives - most of them, in London, are themselves of or in mixed heritage relationships, with parents and children the same. We have very diverse faces on TV, film and stage (and politics!) - and are now remaking classic period dramas to be more inclusive.

So is there a need to import an initiative from the far more toxically divided USA, one that's based on the idea that all and any white people have an oppressive 'white gaze' that black people need to be segregated away from to feel safe when watching a play? Is that theory true or helpful in bringing people together or making people feel confident interacting with each other in society? It's the language behind this, the blanket idea of whiteness as some sort of original sin or inherently oppressive and scary, rather than viewing people as individual human beings with their own distinct stories and attitudes and relationships.

But I’m not sure that is what they are saying when you say “oppressed “white gaze””…..etc. I think it’s about making people actually Not think they are “different” and even need to notice the difference……when audiences and plays accurately reflect society then fine, don’t bother, but as you have mentioned this isn’t the case yet (in fact you had noticed that you “tend to see more black people” at productions that may resonate with black people, so by definition the rest of the time it isn’t the case!) 
It’s the same when people moan about positive discrimination in the workplace for women/people of colour….I say when we are at the same % as society I’m fine to ditch it!!!! 

It's not unexpected - a play like Albion will attract a white middle class audience and I didn't find it very resonant, Allelujah was one of the most elderly audiences I've sat in, The Inheritance the only time I've been to a play with no queue whatsoever for the women's toilets. If you want to attract a particular / more diverse demographic, programme a variety of plays that appeal, at prices that feel less 'Waitrose'. I prefer inclusion to exclusion as an approach though. 

www.thejc.com/lets-talk/all/is-it-time-for-a-'jews-only'-night-at-the-theatre-5JJuJA7p0k8pXODQG06FLw

Tried twice but can't get the link to work on here!

That article is so far from the simple facts of the situation as to almost be irrelevant.
It explains why a jews-only night would "deny a precious opportunity to celebrate sharing our experiences, our worlds, our lives, with others. Instead, it would stand for the opposite. It would want to keep us ghettoised, ossifying boundaries with a patronising finger wag instead of knocking them down."

It doesn't shut down the audience's ability to engage with another culture, or reduce the capacity for empathy. The only lack of empathy being shown is by those who are upset by this sort of thing, because they seem incapable of considering historical or societal context.

It. Is. One. Performance. Out. Of. Thirty.

Just another way of blowing it all out of proportion.
Living with privilege so easily breeds the notion of "oh my god, whatever next?", or "imagine if it was US excluding THEM."