How it’s New York: “Windrush Secret” is part of the “Brits Off Broadway” season at 59E59
How it’s Irish: It addresses abuses of Caribbean immigrants by the British Government; Production photos by Carol Rosegg
For many on these shores the “Windrush Secret” is perhaps more innocent than playwright and actor Rodreguez King-Dorset intended. Running as part of the “Brits Off Broadway” season at 59E59 this bold one-man show exposes the endemic racism in British society and government through the lens of the “Windrush generation”.
Americans may be unaware that the British Government coordinated a wave of immigration to help it rebuild from the ravages of WWII. In 1948, 1027 people from the Caribbean were given passage to England (for the princely sum of £28) on HMS Empire Windrush. But the far dirtier secret at the heart of this fact-based drama, is how the Conservative-led British Government of 2018 challenged the legal rights of these people, their families and the other hundreds of 1000s of people who emigrated from the Caribbean until 1973.
With laser-like focus and explosive power, King-Dorset synthesizes the story into that of three proselytizing protagonists: a Caribbean diplomat, a right-wing fanatic and an elitist civil servant. There is an appropriate – even understated – outnumbering of the forces of hatred and danger, against those of freedom, fairness and justice which is echoed in the staging: at center we find Trevor of the far right, on the far right we find Charles, of the Home Office and, stalwartly defending the left, is Marcus, a diplomat.
Flags and Fervour
The sparse set is also symbolic: each area draped with an appropriate flag (from left to right), of Trinidad, St George and the Union Jack. Similarly the character of Marcus Ramsey delivers all his speeches, sermon-like from a lectern, never comfortable enough to sit down; Trevor Smith has his armchair and sidetable to support his racist rants and memorabilia; and Charles Henry-Williams, the apotheosis of privilege, of course, has a proper table.
King-Dorset unfurls his characters with pace and precision and lays bare the tropes of race hate in Britain. It makes for an uncomfortable watch, especially via “clever” Trevor Smith as he traces his allegiance to Hitler and spews his bile with impunity. Yet this is but a taste of the lived experience of immigrants and people of color the World over.
This is a fearless presentation of the bigotry at either end of the UK’s infamous class system. But as the audience squirms with the deployment of Nazi insignia and “N-word” slurs, there are welcome doses of humor, at the expense of the bigots. On the one hand, Trevor laments that the immigrants, “still can’t speak the Queen’s English, like wot we do”, and, higher up the ladder, Charles Henry-Williams prepares for his demotion of “partying with the Peerage ”.
Education and Revelation
There are also many learning points, even for a relatively well-informed expat like myself. Who knew that M Thatcher was not the only female PM to oversee deeds of malignant injustice against the society she governed? Pepperings of verbatim transcripts and real life stories add credence and heart to this hard-hitting exposé.
Whilst there is surely some slack to pare back the script – which originated as a 20 minute play for children for “Windrush Day” in June 2021 – this is a compelling revelation of Black British experience. Rodreguez King-Dorset and his “Windrush Secret ” are a force to be reckoned with, as the badly-behaved latecomer to opening night quickly discovered.
Windrush Secret is being performed at 59E59 from 1-18 May 2024;
tickets available here
