Every once in a while a young black talent emerges and takes you by surprise. From 'Sea of Souls' and 'Waking the Dead' for BBC TV, 'Coffee, Cigarettes and Paranoia' at the King's Head Theatre and the acclaimed 'Who Killed Mr. Drum' at the Riverside Theatre, actress Andi Osho is making her mark.
The London born actress is currently on a national tour with the play 'Yellowman' building on its successful 2005 run.
I begin by asking Andi what the controversial play is about...
PJ Cobham: Talk us through Yellowman.
Andi Osho: Basically it's a play that looks at racism within a black community in South Carolina in the 1960's. It uses two characters Eugene and Alma. Eugene is a light-skinned man and Alma is a ark-skinned woman. It kind of traces their history of growing up as childhood friends and how gradually the divide between light and dark skinned people in that part of the world tears their relationship apart.
What made you want to take the role?
Well to me, what was most interesting about it was how relevant it still
is. I mean we don't have completely the same relationship in this country
(as opposed to the USA) between light and dark skinned people but it still
exists in terms of our perception of 'beauty' and 'ugliness'.
You know; like lighter skinned people are perceived as being more beautiful,
while darker skinned people are perceived as being uglier or rougher…
something like that. As a dark-skinned woman it is definitely something
I've experienced in Britain… growing up. It's not so much now because
I've changed my perspective on how I am, who I am, and beauty… stuff like
that. And I differentiate between pretty, classic beauty and sort of attractiveness
and all of that and begin to sort of say… actually I know I can be beautiful,
and not how the masses define it.
It's also been an interesting process in terms of rehearsals, digging deep and looking into our own past. Both of us having to do that, with Anthony being light-skinned he's had a different experience to me but yet still knows how relevant it is. That's been really interesting.
Did you ever discuss with the writer her reasons for writing a play with such a controversial and dominant theme running through it?
Well I haven't met her, but I am looking forward to meeting her, hopefully she will be at one of the performances. From our perspective, from a dark-skinned woman's' point of view, it was a cautionary tale (in terms of) looking how far we've come and where we've come from.
It's about not ignoring your heritage and the legacy of racism, which has been bestowed upon us by white imperialism. I mean, that's the American story, over here it's slightly different but from the character of Eugene it's about discussing how hate can be passed on from one generation to another. I read in a book once that we are victims in a sense that our parents are telling us what they know to be true and it's only what they have in turn been told by their parents and that includes prejudices towards other groups, races or type of people and that's what you're telling your kids. To pass on prejudices because that's your truth.
The play is interesting on other levels in terms of family relationships. Like any person looking at this, it's about leaving them to analyse the relationships they have with their own families.
It's a two hander and the main character is Alma right?
It's called 'Yellowman' so I think I can say the main character is Eugene, but it's a two-tale that goes hand in hand really, because both of their experiences are relevant and significant. It's about both of their journeys through the sixties, growing up as teenagers and their relationship being torn apart, their relationship with both of their parents, and what destructive force, not just their parents, but the whole weight of the legacy of all those people before them. Their ancestors just forcing this sort of racial hatred on them, of 'other' groups.
For example, Alma's mother thinks that if you marry a light-skinned man you'd be loved, end of story: "That's what you need to do". Eugene's father who is a dark-skinned man told him that the light-skinned always hated it {his skin}and his father was told he was ugly for being black. What's really interesting about it is that he's dark-skinned, his mother is light-skinned, his father is dark-skinned, her mother is dark-skinned and her father is light-skinned, so within their own families they get both prejudices. His mother was disinherited by her light-skinned father because she married a dark-skinned man so on both sides, the prejudices become really insidious, getting under the skin of both these individuals even though they try their utmost to not let all it affect their relationship.
Have your opinions changed or your awareness been raised by taking part in the play?
I think it highlighted it. It has brought forward my consciousness. I was aware of it before. I think from an American perspective it's really interesting seeing it from their points of view because I think their history is slightly different from ours.
It's like in Southern Africa, they have a band of people called 'coloured' which is not black its sort of…I mean that's racism in its own right. People who somewhere down the line have a white ancestor but then they sort of look to their own as though its another racial group.
I mean in South Africa we are named, black, coloured, Asian whatever and the 'coloured' is not how we see coloured because for us 'coloured' is an offensive term. I mean it is interesting like… looking at this whole thing just realising "My God, this happened to me when I was a kid".
This happened in the 1980's, the 1960's, and it's still so relevant today. I think that's the most significant thing for me that came out during the rehearsal process and luckily I feel like I'm strong enough to look at this play and say I no longer subscribe to that way of thinking.
I know that I'm not alone as a dark-skinned woman wishing at some point in their lives they were white or light. I know now that, that's no longer part of my psyche and I think that's why I'm able to do something like this now. But I understand what it is to look at your darker-skin and think that is ugly.
From other peoples point of view through the ages I suppose?
Yeah, because you're told it and eventually if you're told it for long enough you start to believe it and I think that basically… it's not that they are saying black is ugly... its boys not wanting to chase the darker skinned girls, its not seeing a darker skinned woman on TV as a love interest, its only seeing big black women as 'mama' figures rather than a wife you know what I mean? And that's how it's taught to us, it's not an overt message it's really subtle.
So is Yellowman a positive tale about colour prejudice or is it making a statement about is derisory elements?
I think definitely the play makes a statement. But I think it's for the audience to decide whether its positive or not, depending on your point of view and what you take from it.
You can look at it and think "Oh that's so tragic", we've come nowhere, we've been nowhere since slavery or you can look it and go "Right this is such a positive account because we can now move on from this", because its brought out into the open.
Is it a play for everyone?
Absolutely. I mean something interesting came up when I auditioned for it, that it might be more palatable for white audiences because usually when racism is brought up (in plays etc) its all about white people against black or Asian people, when actually racism is across the board. I know some black people are racist against Asian people or vice versa, and every race has its own prejudices.
I mean what's good about this (play) is that, well… not good but interesting, is that white audiences will not feel as if they are being specifically pinpointed as the antagonists or the oppressors in this. As it goes they are, in the sense that it was slavery and preferences towards the lighter-skinned slaves that created this legacy. Obviously if a white owner is showed favouritism to his lighter-skinned slaves, amongst the community starts to create a rift between them. So their actions begin to be defined by that. The blacks are subjugated so they act subjugated they start to steal, get more into crime, whatever…. Suddenly the white community would say, "Well I didn't make them do it" obviously they did …
Because they planted the seed?
Exactly. Exactly.