Absolutely brilliant! That is how I would describe the theatre production I had the privilege of going to see on Saturday.
1963 They Had a Dream was a new musical by the Young Persons Theatre Company (YPTC).
The play was performed at the Cochrane Theatre down there in Holborn London and let me tell you, if you did not get to see it – you truly missed out!
Prior to the show, I had Alexandra and Fiona (2 members of the YPTC) join me on my chat show last week.
The subject was on interracial dating which tied in so perfectly with the story line of the production.
We spoke about the production in detail and of course the difficulties some of the actors and actresses faced when delving into the past to prepare for their roles.
The play which was set in 1963, dealt with a lot of racial tension and as the YPTC is such a diverse group of people that include a variety of races and cultures across the board, and they found some of the facts pretty unnerving.
We continued to discuss how the play would open the eyes of some people and in fact help the majority of people to understand and appreciate just how far things have moved on since those times.
During the show, we had another special guest who was of mixed parentage.
She came through to give her opinion on interracial relationships and how she felt to be mixed race.
So, the play I hear you cry!
Well as I said, the play was fantastic….
The vision for the play was born out of the director’s belief that equality is important.
Back in the 1960’s (which was when the play was set), the voices of those that dared to dream of a tolerant society, were often drowned out and unheard.
Around this time, Martin Luther King made his famous ‘I have a Dream’ speech which revealed his dream of a world where one was ‘no longer judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk&feature=player_embedded
This play, captured this ‘time’ perfectly.
The play was set in
Jacob met and fell in love with Cathy, who was the daughter of a gangster (based loosely on the Krays).
They both knew because of their differences – things would be hard.
They believed the love they had for each other was enough to get them through but their friends and families saw it differently.
When Jacob’s sister Anna discovered Cathy was not West Indian, there was an emotional exchange of words which dealt with the underlying issue that racism derives from fear. One of Anna’s relatives had fallen in love with a white women and was subsequently beaten up, left blind in one eye and physically handicapped.
Anna feared the same would happen to her beloved brother Jacob.
On Cathy’s side, first she had to deal with racism from her work colleagues, based on ignorance, and then a betrayal by a so called friend who went and told her dad that her boyfriend was black!
Her dad would not stand for any of it and initially offered Jacob money to stay away from her but when he refused, the dad knew he had to resort to desperate measures.
The story unfolds and as Jacob and Cathy show resilience to the disapproval from those around them, both sides are forced to re-examine their beliefs.
The play ends in an unexpected but expected way if you catch my drift….
It was great!
The acting was incredible and so very believeable.
In parts it was emotional – it was definitely a rollercoaster ride which made me realise how lucky we are to be living in the society we live in today.
OK there are certain things that could be changed and of course, whilst there are differences there will always be racism but… to see and understand what it was, makes you know – its not that bad!
Massive shout out to all the cast and crew that made the production such a special one, oh and thanks for the mention in the programme muah!
Check out the link to see what you missed: http://www.yptc.co.uk/
Peace, Love & Good vibes….
Sherryl Blu x
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