Dutchman

Drawing tense parallels between Black Lives Matter and the Civil Rights Movement, Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman challenges the progress of racial equality by asking how much has changed these last 50 years?

Following Lula, a white woman, and Clay, a black man, Dutchman explores the intersectionality between race, class and gender. The explosive narrative tackles white privilege, masculinity, power and sexuality as the audience follows the relationship between Lula, played by Cheska Hill-Wood and Clay, performed by American Black Film Festival nominee James Barnes.

This Black History Month, this revival celebrates Baraka’s civil rights activism and his confrontation of race and class in modern society. Baraka’s activism and pioneering African American poetry altered the course of American literature and shone a light on the lives and artistic culture of African Americans in the 20th century. First performed in New York in 1964, this vital play is as relevant today as the British government makes increasingly polarising decisions, deepening racial divides.