White, Black and Soyinka

Copyright yellow book ltd through Creative Commons

Never one to shy away from controversy, the National Theatre plans to stage Death and the King’s Horsemen with black actors “whited up” to play British colonisers. Given that the National came under fire for its portrayal of ethnic minorities in England People Very Nice, the decision may seem risky.

Yet, according to whatsonstage, director Rufus Norris says that he is staging the play in the manner it would be performed in Nigeria, the home of playwright Wole Soyinka. No political message at all, apparently. 

However, sweeping politics aside for the moment. Norris might have also pointed out the gesture’s literary merits: the plot is based on a real incident in 1943, but the play is also a powerful contemporary interpretation of the Greek tragedy, The Bacchae, by Euripides.

In the Greek plot, repressive dictator Pentheus refuses to recognise Dionysus, the god of wine and of fertility, as a deity. Pentheus is then lured to watch the town’s womenfolk cavorting on the hilltops, only to be torn to pieces by his mother. The tragedy suggests the importance of release, of controlled escapism. 

The plot of Soyinka’s masterpiece may not run in tangent exactly, but notions of ritual release, and constrictive power, encircle his characters in the same way. 

But back to “whiting up”. What does this mean within this literary heritage? On stage, the action should demonstrate two things: first, that people are essentially the same, only some pretend to have a mask of greater importance and, second, that the white mask of the coloniser blocks humane dealings and human release. 

A powerful metaphor. Hopefully, Norris will use it.

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