Wiletta Mayer is a black actor in 1950s America who has long dreamed of being on Broadway. She is getting her chance in a play called Chaos in Belleville, written by a white playwright about a community of black sharecroppers in the south. When Tanya Moodie’s Wiletta arrives early on the first day of rehearsal and stands on stage breathing in the magic of the empty theatre, she simultaneously resembles a world-famous diva and a small, trembling child.
Alice Childress’s groundbreaking, Obie-winning play premiered off Broadway in 1955. While its construction may now look old-fashioned and the satire at times laboured – particularly in the play-within-a-play segments – its skewering of the racism hiding behind liberal attitudes is sharp enough to make an audience squirm. It is smart, too, about the pressures the black actors put each other under to behave in certain ways. “Whites don’t like unhappy negroes,” Wiletta tells rookie actor John (Daniel Ezra), advising him to laugh at all the jokes made by white director Al (Jonathan Cullen).
But, as Al insists that everyone finds the truth in their performances, Wiletta realises that Chaos in Belleville is a lie that plays to cultural stereotypes that assuage white people’s guilt. “The story goes a certain way,” explains Al. “It ought to go another way,” insists Wiletta. The more she speaks her mind, the more Al unconsciously reveals his real thinking.
Like Wiletta, Childress made a stand over her own play: a white producer wanted to transfer it to Broadway but only if it was rewritten to reflect the sensibilities of predominantly white audiences. Childress refused.
Laurence Boswell brings out the delicacy and subtleties lurking beneath the obvious, and every single performance – even in the smallest role – is a delight. Moodie is quite magnificent as Wiletta, negotiating the pitfalls of playing a character who acts badly, and capturing the mix of vanity and fear that drives a woman who eventually finds her true voice and pays the price.
- At the Ustinov, Bath, until 17 December. Box office: 01225 448844.
