By Dave
Link: https://sohotheatreondemand.com/show/typical
Available until: 48-hour rental.
Content warning: racism, violence, death
Typical tells a story which shouldn’t be typical at all. A story which we know too well.
A black man goes out for the night. He ends the night in jail.
He has such high hopes for the night at the start of the play. Even when things start to go wrong, this likeable guy, played by Richard Blackwood, tries not to let it upset him. He’ll say his piece when he thinks it needs to be said but he means no harm. We can see that.
But not everyone can.
His plans to spend the evening with his friends come to nothing but he doesn’t want to let that stop him from having a good time. But everywhere he goes, he’s aware he’s being treated differently from the white men. He tries telling himself he’s being paranoid but he’s not and by the end of the play, this has been forcefully, horrifically brought home to us
The bouncers, the people in the club, the hospital staff, the police, they all respond to the colour of his skin and what they think it means. He can’t ask for medical treatment. He can’t report another person’s violence. He’s seen as the person who’s to blame. It’s despicable but it’s realistic. This story is based on a true story but there are many true stories like this one. There will probably be more.
Ryan Calais Cameron has written this as a one-man play, with the actor playing all the roles. This keeps the focus on the main character without the distraction of different actors coming in and out, performing a short scene before moving aside to let another person take over the abuse of an innocent man. The script is harsh, bleak and very honest but it also has warmth, happiness and humour. The main character is a good man who likes to have fun and joke around and we get to see that. Of course even if he had been a piece of work, that wouldn’t make the treatment he receives acceptable. But this is a good man. A man who hasn’t hurt anybody.
Director Anastasia Osei-Kuffour has an almost bare stage with a set designed by Zahra Mansouri. There are a few blocks which Richard moves around to set different scenes. The club has special lighting, designed by Paul Anderson. The small changes in set and lighting show the scene has changed but the similarities are important because in some ways, nothing has changed. The character goes to so many places but wherever he goes, the racism is there. Sometimes cruel, sometimes casual. Perhaps sometimes it’s even unconscious. But it’s always there.
Richard is astounding in this play. He characterises all the roles really well. His friends only appear briefly in phone conversations but they are all very different and you know that not just from the way Richard’s voice changes but the way he sits for each character. The racists are also different which is important. Racists come from all walks of life and you can’t usually apot a racist till you’re in the middle of a conversation with them.
But it’s as the main character that Richard is especially brilliant. The details he puts into his character, the way he helps us to get to know him and care about him in just an hour. You probably don’t need to care about him to be horrified by the events in this play but the fact he is such a likeable character who feels so real, like a guy you really could meet down the pub, makes it feel all the more personal and it also shows us something which is horrible but really important. People of all colours cause trouble sometimes. But this guy isn’t causing trouble at all. First, he just wants to enjoy himself. Then he just wants to be allowed to be heard.
Richard shows the character’s anger, which is reasonable anger, but he also shows his determination to keep it under control. He shows his desperation, his fear. He says some things which are maybe a bit unwise. Who wouldn’t, in that situation? He’s a human being, not a saint. But compare it with the things the other people say. Compare their behaviour with his. He wants his basic human rights. That’s all.
It’s not an easy watch but it’s a brilliant play on a
very important subject.
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