Black Superhero - Royal Court

Any guesses on who could be the next Artistic Director of the Royal Court? A good number of the notable theatre directors these days have gone freelance, or established their own production companies (the likes of Michael Grandage, Dominic Cooke, Sam Mendes, Jeremy Herrin), or currently serving as ADs or associate ADs in another theatre venue (RuNo, RuGo, Erica Whyman). Any prolific stage actor interested in taking over? Or an emerging writer?

Looking from the outside, it's difficult to not see a guy who's conflating a social media presence with the real world, and that cannot end well.

These are not the same worlds, although I'm sure coming generations will find it more and more difficult.

Because trust has gone, you end up with a Megan and Harry situation whereby everyone who speaks with you feels they need a witness to the exchange. How can the create process survive.

I suppose my feeling on this matter is there's nothing wrong with being certain of your talent - in this industry, it's almost necessitated if you want your value to be recognised - but entering spaces, where people are commissioning and producing your works to your betterment, with an attitude of unyielding embattlement is just...at the very best, it's not a generous attitude to bring to a creative process which should ultimately be collaborative. This may be Danny Lee Wynter's writing, but I think it's profoundly wrong for a writer to know that he a) carries weight with a socio-politically engaged discourse on social media and can therefore b) weaponise that platform when the various parties cannot resolve what is ultimately a business commitment between groups. The writing is his, but the play is bigger than him and the entire efforts of all have been overshadowed by the way this has played out.

DLW's latest pivot on socials is to "This is my play. I will succeed and won't be silenced again" (to paraphrase!)...Frankly, no one except DLW can truly understand what's at play here, but I do think dragging a theatre into the unrest of an emotional experience that *likely* precedes this Black Superhero production and to do so in such a public manner is just wrong. There's a point where we all need time and space to resolve personal issues, but there was indeed an inevitability in the way DLW, in particular, swiftly took this experience and ran to social media with it. And, in part due to NDA clauses we all sign, has been able to do so with abstraction and obfuscation that creates a kind of "breadcrumbing" - no transparent discussion allowed, but thinly veiled hints that the Court wrongs and silences creatives, with no credible avenue for their rebuttal. It's messy.

Deciding that the black guy is in the wrong (based on nothing except personal opinion as to how creatives should and should not use social media, and vague rumours about 'being difficult') and the theatre that's known for mistreating writers is in the right, is not "people starting to make sense of things."

Not one person on this forum has actually disclosed any details. It's just people reaffirming each other's biases and opinions, egged on by nebulous hints from people implying insider status. (It's pretty telling that when non-white posters post "I personally work on this show and here's some non-controversial info", even if they have years of posting proven insider casting and production scoops, they're consistently undermined, called liars and bullied. Yet posters, even brand new posters, can post the vaguest and most innuendo-filled posts hinting at insider status that demonise a black actor, and aren't questioned or challenged at all.)


It's also very odd to frame allegations of mistreatment as "dragging a theatre into it." The whole reason theatre and the entertainment industry in general has such a big abuse problem (MeToo, Harvey Weinstein, Spacey, at al but also things like racism) is because of the culture of silence where people are slammed for speaking out. Obviously this is a different situation than Weinstein or Spacey. There's no indication there's any sexual component here and the Court actually has a great reputation in terms of not tolerating any form of sexual abuse or harassment. Of all the criticisms or allegations made about them, I'm not aware of anything sexual. But abuse is abuse.


Remember, Weinstein used a lot of tactics like astroturfing and anonymously leaking stories online painting actresses he'd raped as "difficult" as a deliberate tactic to destroy their credibility and smear their reputations online, as a preventative measure to discourage them from coming forward about the abuse and to ensure that if they did come forward, they wouldn't be believed. I really don't think anyone at the Court is Machiavellian enough to be badmouthing Danny Lee Wynter online under fake names to damage the credibility of his allegations against the Court, but it's still very worrying that people who speak up are so consistently demonised. I don't think Wynter has handled things at all well, but there's a general attitude of "you must silently suffer any abuse because if you ever speak up, ever, you're a whiny attention whore who's not trustworthy" is extremely alarming.




Can we not go five minutes without Meghan bashing? The RF leaked private conversations and damaging lies about Harry and Meghan since day one. Any trust was destroyed by them long before Harry and Meghan said a single word.


Personally I'd feel a lot safer engaging with someone who's willing to state their opinions openly and on the record under their real name (because that means there's transparency and accountability), than someone who refuses to engage publicly but is doing God knows what sneaky underhand stuff covertly or behind the scenes.

I agree with you. There is so much more to this story. Two sides to every story.

Danny Lee Wynter has tweeted the front page of a script titled "Black Superhero: Episode One" with the caption "1 down, 7 to go" and a tag of Bonafide Films.
So it looks like this will have a future life as a TV show.

I think it's better suited to TV.  It needed more time for the relationship between the central character and his sister to develop, and for all relationships to breathe, for various pennies to drop, and haunting back stories to come forward.  On stage it didn't feel quite big or ground breaking enough, but it would be more of a challenge to where TV has visited so far.  

The theater was nearly full when I saw the play in March.

And it's one 45 minute TV show at best.

There's no series here, there was barely a play.