NEWS: The White Card @ Northern Stage

Image: The White Card cast & creatives by Christopher Owens

Can society progress when whiteness remains invisible? Written in 2019 in an increasingly racially divided America, The White Card uncovers uncomfortable truths about white privilege, cultural appropriation and representation that arise when a wealthy, privileged white couple invite a talented Black artist to dinner.

Written by American poet, essayist and playwright Claudia Rankine, this one-act play, which runs at Northern Stage from Friday 29^th April-Saturday 14^th May, explores what happens if one is willing to stay in the room when tensions run high and it’s painful to bear the pressure to listen and the obligation to respond.

Having founded the Racial Imaginary Institute in 2017, an interdisciplinary collective established as a think tank for artists and writers who study whiteness and examine race as a construct, Claudia Rankine is well-placed to guide us through this conversation. In this, her first published play, she explores the white spaces of the living room, the art gallery, the theatre, and the imagination itself that engender racial divisions.

Be an ally, be in the room, be in the conversation – that’s the invitation extended for the first time to audiences in the UK, as this Northern Stage production is the UK and European premiere of The White Card. Written before the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests that rippled across the globe, The White Card invites us to all to play our part in the debate.

Do you have what it takes to stay in the room?

The White Card is at Northern Stage, Newcastle from Friday 29^th April-Saturday 14^th May.