Face it, London needs 'Black Out' theatre nights

LAST summer, on a trip to the West End to watch Hamilton with my mum, as we were tucking into some outrageously overpriced ice-cream, she glanced around and muttered: "You know, I love the theatre, but it's such a shame there are so few other black people here." It has become something of a regular refrain.

- Emma Loffhagen

Even in a city like London - and even at one of the most racially diverse West End shows in history like Hamilton - we always seem to stick out like a sore thumb.

Which is why, when I heard that American playwright Jeremy O Harris's new West End show Slave Play will feature two nights open to an "all-black identifying audience" to allow black audiences to watch the play "free from the white gaze", my first thought was to find a ticket link. My second thought was of the inevitable backlash that would unfold.