Thought-Provoking Drama At Its Best

I remember standing in the middle of Sevastopol in the Crimea as my Russian friend began remonstrating with a local policeman. After several minutes, he eventually agreed to move on a group of sneering lads. I had just had my first taste of prejudice for I was the 'bloody foreigner' they had been mocking.

Last night I cringed for my countrymen as I listened to some of those early recordings in which fellow Yorkshiremen betrayed their woeful ignorance with comments like, 'well, folk round 'ere' wouldn't want their food served by people with black 'ands.'

The real audio was partial inspiration for Queen of Chapeltown, West Yorkshire Playhouse's latest offering in the Quarry Theatre

Top marks to writer Colin Grant and Director, Amy Leach, for their honest, but wonderfully humorous account of the first Afro Caribbean's to come to West Yorkshire in the 1960's, and how they held on to their cultural heritage by establishing the Leeds West Indian Carnival, now arguably bigger and even more culturally important than Notting Hill's.

This play served as a poignant reminder of how far we have come by presenting some uncomfortable truths in a controlled environment, and if we all cringed then, hey that's good. It means we are not proud of aspects of our past and, in this instance, we shouldn't be!

Back then the world was awash with scepticism as people from the Empire flooded into Britain with aspirations of a better life. 'They' were black, 'we' were white and neither knew how to treat the other. Were they black, coloured or darkies? How did they refer to us? No one knew. It was new territory

It has taken several decades to reach a level of education and acceptance that has taught us to know better, however, the journey continues.
Queen of Chapeltown was a great piece of thought-provoking theatre that looked at a key aspect of Leeds life.

Elexi Walker was Beverly, the black girl with aspirations of becoming a beautician and hairdresser in Leeds, only the salon owner, eager to recruit, was not sure that his clients would want their hair touched by someone with black hands; of course, HE wasn't prejudiced but he had to think of his customers!

Hilary (Emily Butterfield) was the white Leeds lass who cautiously befriends Beverly, thinking that their night at the Locarno dance hall would be sweetness and light until the bouncer asks her pal to leave, prompting a standoff and feelings of 'you're with 'er or us' for the confused white girl.

This was a well-balanced play that sensitively presented two sides of the same coin. At times, it left you squirming and at other moments, feeling sorry for those rejected in a second of false hate and misunderstanding, but left in the sorrow of their own loneliness.

Queen of Chapeltown has some great performances. Gabriel Paul as Tidy Boots is the shoe obsessed cynic who doubts the merits of organising a carnival, but is eventually persuaded by the positive, likeable Arthur (Raphael Bushay) who quickly understands how to navigate the cultural niceties of British life.

Thought-provoking, humorous and sensitive, this is a play for blacks, whites and any fair skinned folk who have stood in the middle of Russia and felt the sharp tongue of prejudice. A play for all seasons and all skin colours.

Queen of Chapeltown
West Yorkshire Playhouse
Tonight only.