Anything Goes - Barbican / U.K.Tour

Just to clarify, I meant the silence from Sutton was a bit disappointing.

As to what allies should do (and I mean allies for anything, not just allies to the black community), I think listen to what affected people are saying. But listen to more than one person or try and find out more from other sources, because as I said, this is my opinion on the matter, I don't speak for all black people and there will be black people who's view on this (or other matters) I will completely disagree with just as not all gay people or all British people have the same opinion.

And whilst there are always grades of racism and all 'isms', if a fair amount of people from the community affected tell you that it is offensive or discriminatory, intent or no intent by the person doing it, then listen to them. It might not be a huge issue for you or you might not even be able to fully get your head around the issue, but listen and be supportive.

At the same time, keep things in perspective, i.e. support and speak out but also don’t go overzealous and shout people down or cancel them for minor mistakes or errors in judgement, especially when those people are willing to learn, because that will just divide people.
A friend of mine was very much trying to be good ally and ready to tear up their ticket to first preview of Anything Goes and whilst I appreciated that their intentions were good, I didn’t think that that was the answer in this case.

So that is my idea of a good ally, listen, learn and support, which is what I try to live by being an ally to other communities. But again other people might see that completely differently. 😊