Retrograde – Kiln Theatre, London (LAST CHANCE TO SEE)

Ryan Calais Cameron shows off his playwriting range in Retrograde, the story of a young Sidney Poitier faced with a difficult decision.

Retrograde

If I haven’t kept up with Ryan Calais Cameron’s recent work, it’s only due to overcommitment to evening outings on the part of the Salterton Arts Review. I saw an earlier play, Typical, online, but somehow missed resounding success For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy. For his latest work, Retrograde, I snuck in just before the end of the run. And, as with The Secret Life of Bees, what a good decision that was.

In comparison with those earlier works I mentioned, Retrograde deals with a specific time and place. The seed for the story is an incident alluded to several times by the actor Sidney Poitier (played by Ivanno Jeremiah). Early on in his career, during the strange times of McCarthyism and the nascent Civil Rights Movement, Poitier was asked to compromise his values for the sake of career progression. I won’t give too many spoilers, but Cameron turns this incident into a tight three hander. Poitier arrives in the offices of NBC lawyer Mr Parks (Daniel Lapaine). His friend Bobby (Ian Bonar) is there too: Bobby has written a TV movie and wants Poitier to star. Over the course of a tense 90 minutes, it transpires that the ‘oath of loyalty’ Parks would have Poitier sign before handing over his contract is only the tip of the iceberg.

For a contemporary audience, the casual racism of this office environment is uncomfortable. In the opening scene, before Poitier’s arrival, the two men openly discuss his race. Is he ‘Harry Belafonte black’? No, he’s ‘black-black’. Once Poitier arrives, it’s clear to all that a part of signing this contract will be a performative kind of blackness. Jeremiah’s Poitier remains poised throughout these early microagressions: you can see him weighing up the cost of progress. But he must laugh at the ‘jokes’, perform his Bajan accent, and trade stories from his life to show he will play by the rules, is not troublesome.

How Far Have We Really Come?

Ah yes, that is the question. It’s easy to see that Cameron is nudging us towards it. The obvious answer being that we are not as far away from those attitudes as we would like to think. The recent incident in which a talk show guest had to insist on the correct pronunciation of her name comes to mind. In Retrograde, persistent mispronunciation of Poitier’s name is one way in which Mr Parks asserts dominance. I’m not saying this was the TV host’s intention, but it’s not not the subtext of such interactions, either.

Stylistically, Retrograde takes place in a ‘Mad Men’ sort of world. Interestingly, the dialogue tends towards the types of zingy one-liners seen in films of the period, rather than true naturalism. It’s familiar if not entirely realistic, with some very funny lines on occasion. The set by Frankie Bradshaw is a perfect period environment: believable without any superfluous elements. Again, no spoilers, but watch out for the scene which transcends the confines of the set. A moment of genius.

Jeremiah’s performance as Poitier is something to behold. He channels Poitier’s poise and clipped pronunciation while making the role his own. The audience are with him on his emotional journey, even spontaneously responding to certain scenes on the night I saw it. This is a play that feels like a star vehicle, and certainly allows Jeremiah to show off his acting chops. The 90 minutes of Retrograde flew by and left me wanting more: if you can get a ticket before the end of the run then go and see for yourself.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 4/5

Retrograde on until 27 May 2023