My White Best Friend (and Other Letters Left Unsaid)
Last week I watched my first theatre production (via Zoom) since lockdown!
10 letters were written by Black writers and read out by 10 actors.
I made it to the final reading on the last night — Ryan’s letter to Uncle T. This was a letter that touched on self-worth, the role of respect in Caribbean households and inter-generational disconnection.
The letter sets the scene of how Uncle T came into Ryan’s life. Fast forward to when Ryan’s at uni and travels back to London to pick up some food from his mum. Ryan recalls the verdict for Trayvon Martin’s murder being read out on the news. It’s a shock to everyone in the room. Except Uncle T. He goes on to say something along the lines of, if you are dressed like a criminal, you going to get treated like one. Ryan was mad. His mum tries to calm the situation but it’s not working. Ryan demands to know how Uncle T can came to such a conclusion. This is where the themes mentioned above come into play.
- Ryan’s tone addressing Uncle T would be seen as disrespectful in a Caribbean household (even if he was right). Admittedly, there is a tension between respecting elders and voicing your opinion as a younger person – which the letter goes on to illustrate. Time may change but some people’s way of thinking doesn’t. And this could explain why there is a disconnection between generations.
- As Ryan tries to work through Uncle T’s thinking, we’re introduced to some context. Uncle T’s experience navigating in Britain wasn’t easy. Hard work and graft paved the way. But there were deliberate (societal) obstacles along the journey, such as discrimination within the workplace. Perhaps this experience influenced Uncle T’s world view.
- Each generation has its own unique experience. And these experiences become more complex depending on where you were born and raised. If you’ve been living in survival mode for a long time, ‘comfort’ could be an aspiration. Ryan questions Uncle T for settling for ‘comfort’ – but perhaps Uncle T was taught to keep his ‘head down’ by his own elders?
My takeaway – this play made me wonder what both Black people and non-Black people learned from the writer’s experiences? There’s a lot of commentary about ‘difficult conversations’, but I wonder how many people think about the ‘difficulty’ a person may be going through as they live through such experiences?
Make sure you are following:
- Tobi Kyeremateng — the incredible producer behind this production
- Rachel De-Lahay — Co-Curator (Writer)
- Milli Bhatia — Co-Curator (Director)
