Review: Nakkiah Lui's BLACK IS THE NEW WHITE Returns For An Encore Season And Multi City Tour
Friday 2nd March 2018, 7:30pm Roslyn Packer Theatre
BroadwayWorld Sydney's review of the premiere season of BLACK IS THE NEW WHITE can be found below:
For the return season, Paige Rattray's (Director) production has been lifted out of Wharf 1 Theatre and Renee Mulder's (Designer) large set has been dropped onto the Roslyn Packer Theatre stage, at a slight angle, with the majority of the cast reprising the roles they originated.
Tom Stokes and Miranda Tapsell have stepped into the roles of Francis Smith and Rose Jones respectively. Stokes gives Francis the requisite awkwardness and social ineptitude fuelled by the character's propensity to always say the wrong thing no matter how hard he tries to ingratiate himself with his future inlaws. Tapsell delivers an over the top Californian bimbo performance, capturing all the aspects of white trash from bad hair extensions and fake nails and a superior attitude to provide a solid contrast to Rose's protestations that she wants to protect her heritage.
On seeing this work for a second time, it is still hilarious. The luxury of having an idea of what was coming did allow the atmosphere to be absorbed and it is interesting and amusing to hear the collective gasp of almost all of the 896 patrons of the Roslyn Packer Theatre in response to the racially insensitive comments dropped by Francis and his father Dennison. In a time when there is a desire to represent the diversity of society on stage, it is refreshing to see BLACK IS THE NEW WHITE get another season to present an Indigenous family's story that shows them as successful and powerful. Regardless of background though, BLACK IS THE NEW WHITE is a delightfully humorous story that will resonate with anyone who has tried to navigate a family gathering, introduce inlaws and survive Christmas.
Roslyn Packer Theatre Walsh Bay Sydney: 2 March - 10 March 2018
Riverside Theatres Parramatta: 21 - 24 March 2018
Canberra Theatre Centre Canberra: 28 - 31 March
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