Black boy joy: defying stereotypes on the London stage

黑人男孩的欢乐:在伦敦舞台上挑战刻板印象

Lives Less Ordinary

社会与文化

2025-01-13

40 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

Ryan Calais Cameron dreamed of being an actor, but after a careers advisor told him this was unrealistic he took a different path as a tradesman. Unhappy, Ryan took a risk with acting and eventually landed himself a lead role on one of London’s biggest stages; this opened the door to a career in theatre and on TV. But as his acting progressed, Ryan often found himself playing clichéd and typecast roles like gangsters and drug dealers. Frustrated and wanting to challenge convention, Ryan turned playwright to create stories and worlds that fulfilled him, addressing race, misogyny and masculinity in his work. Ryan’s plays Queens of Sheba and For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy have transformed him into one of Britain’s most sought-after screenwriters and playwrights. Presenter and Producer: Tommy Dixon Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
更多

单集文稿 ...

  • This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

  • This week on Witness History.

  • One day in 1980, Thomas Keneally went into a shop to buy a briefcase.

  • But the store owner told him a remarkable tale, that of Oskar Schindler, who saved more than a thousand Jews during the Holocaust.

  • Thomas published the story in a book in 1982, which was made into the award winning film Schindler's List.

  • For the biggest moments in history told by the people who were there.

  • Search and subscribe to Witness History wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

  • It was like, I'm gonna show you everything that's wonderful about being a young black boy so that you won't ever have to look at us and degrade us to being black in the hood, you know, and we set that up with bright colors, you know, and the set almost looked like a playground because most of us had to grow up really, really quick.

  • What does it mean if we can get that humanity back?

  • And would that give us a different level of hope for our future?

  • Challenging stereotypes by bringing black boy joy on stage was something writer Ryan Calais Cameron had been planning for a while.

  • And he was determined to do it in spectacular fashion.

  • And we used song, we used dance, we used rap, we used prose, we used poetry.

  • We're incredible.

  • And I was like, let's showcase that.

  • Let's see what happens.

  • It's either gonna be a masterpiece or a mess.

  • And what happened next was something he hadn't anticipated.

  • His show became a smash success and he rose as one of Britain's most sought after playwrights.

  • It was a thriving career in the performing arts and an unrealistic dream Ryan had defied all odds to achieve.