Trafalgar Studios until 25 May, then touring until 22 June, beginning at Richmond Theatre 27 May – 1 June
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
Joshua Harmon’s scathing comedy skewers the hypocrisy and shallowness of diversity programmes in a system based on white (male) privilege. Sherri (Alex Kingston) is the admissions officer in a New Hampshire private school, while her husband Bill (Andrew Woodall) is the head. When their son Charlie (Ben Edelman) doesn’t get into Yale, but his best friend Perry does, the fallout has huge repercussions for the family. Perry’s father is mixed race, and both Charlie and Sherri think that this ticked more boxes on Yale’s admissions policy, making it easier for him to get in. Sherri is obtuse and discussing this with Perry’s mother Ginnie (Sarah Hadland), but Charlie launches into a spectacular rant about race and gender full of bitterness, bile, hate and self-pity that white boys like him always miss out. Filled with remorse and shame – his father congratulates Sherri that they’ve raised a Republican! – and with the dramatic self-assured certainty of youth that he can atone, Charlie makes decisions that shock and horrify his parents and they scrabble to save his future.
Harmon’s writing is clever and sharp, with lots of cringe-inducing lines of self-justification from Sherri as she realises that her career is built on visuals rather than actual change. At one point in an argument with her son we see the flip side of the old chestnut about liking a race, but here she’s shouting that she likes white people. The play begins with Sherri confronting Roberta (Margot Leicester) about the new school catalogue containing no photos of students of colour. Roberta is older and her family has been connected with the school for a century, and she is obviously there to represent the casual racism of previous generations, horrified and bemused that that words she’s always used are now unusable. But her analysis of students, counting each race in photographs, serves to highlight Sherri’s hypocrisy as she categorises by race, along with the myth of happy diversity in a school where only the most gifted students of colour need apply, while a rich daddy can open the door for the most unpromising white boy.
None of the characters are likeable, only sweet old racist Roberta, who will remind you of those dotty old aunts you see at family gatherings, and even though there are fantastic performances all round, you do feel that director Daniel Aukin could have given them a little more to do. Alex Kingston does the gradual descent from blazing certainty to self-doubt brilliantly, but Sherri could be so much more interesting. That’s my only gripe really – I loved the play, and it was wonderful watching the (predominantly white) audience squirm at familiar phrases that we hear in everyday life. Charlie’s willingness to make a sacrifice to help change the injustice of the system, set against his parents’ smug actions which don’t actually impact on them, and Sherri’s reaction when the policies she prides herself on prove to be damaging for her own child, all pose painful questions about the audience’s own privilege in a heavy handed but extremely entertaining way.
This piercingly provocative play is jam packed with antagonistic humour, forcing the audience to take a long hard look at themselves even as they are wiping away tears of laughter. If you’re in London, grab a ticket while you can – or you may be lucky enough to catch the play on its short 4 venue tour, starting at Richmond Theatre.
Trafalgar Studios until 25 May
Richmond Theatre 27 May – 1 June
Cambridge Arts Theatre 3 – 8 June
Malvern Theatres 10 – 15 June
The Lowry, Salford 17 – 22 June