Black actors to 'white up' for Genet revival

A controversial play in which black actors wear white make-up to play the Queen and her entourage is to be staged by the Theatre Royal, Stratford East.

The Blacks, by French writer Jean Genet, is rarely performed now but in the Sixties it was the longestrunning play off Broadway, starring Maya Angelou and James Earl Jones.

The Theatre Royal's production is set to rap music and is the venue's contribution to Black History Month.

The Blacks is a play within a play. The audience sees the arrival of Queen and her entourage - all played by black actors - to watch a performance by a separate group of black actors. The drama features the apparent murder of a white woman.

Ultz, who will co-direct the production with DJ Excalibah, said there was no intention to offend. "The aim is never to shock but we announce it could well be shocking," he said.

"The play is fuelled by anger about what whites did in black countries.

"The timing is very specific. It is the anniversary of the expulsion of the whites from Ghana and the 200th anniversary of the law that abolished the slave trade." When Genet, a petty criminal turned novelist, playwright and political campaigner, wrote The Blacks in the Fifties, it was deliberately set against the backdrop of Ghanaian independence.

The Blacks runs from 12 October to 10 November.

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