Blues for Mr Charlie

Synopsis

In the Deep South of America just before the birth of the civil rights movement, local white storekeeper Lyle Britten stands trial accused of killing Richard Henry, a young black man. As the trial ensues, the simmering tensions in the community reach melting point. In the face of overwhelming evidence, will the all-jury convict, or is Britten above the law? Inspired by the Mississippi murder trial of Emmett Till, Blues for Mr Charlie first premiered in New York on April 23 1964 using a racially diverse cast.

Our Review:

18 June 2004

NOTE: The following review dates from May 2005 and this production's initial dates at the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich.

Extremes can have a meeting point - but it's too often a point from which there can be no return. Take the stories of past and present which come together in James Baldwin's Blues for Mr Charlie, first staged in 1964 at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA. It is a 20th century variant on classic Greek tragedy.

We are in a small town somewhere in the Deep South, where the "poor Whites" are struggling to survive financially and culturally. The parallel Black community simply wants to be something more than just second-class citizens in the country which once enslaved them.

Both societies fear change and resent outsiders. For the Whites, the Northern-educated and well-to-do newspaper editor Parnell James (Rolf Saxon) epitomises both these worries. For the Blacks, it's Richard ([Mich...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (195.92.67.78) - 29 June 2004:

Excellent production, very well-staged and wonderful performances....

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