“Things My White Friends Say”
Inspiring is perhaps the last adjective many of us would use to describe Twitter. Yet for Glaswegian writer Joe McCann, it helped light the flame towards producing his first professionally commissioned play, “Things My White Friends Say”.
Reading an article that appeared on his timeline about the theatre industry’s struggles amid the pandemic, it mentioned Gary McNair’s “Locker Room Talk”, a play where four women repeated verbatim the everyday sexist ‘banter’ of men. Joe’s interest was piqued.
“What he did is he went out and interviewed people in Scotland after Trump made those ‘grab them by the pussy’ remarks. He wanted to find out do men really speak like that.
“I was looking to write something about everything that was going on after George Floyd and I read that article and was like fuck, that’s it, that’s what I want to do.”
Replacing misogyny with racism, Joe pitched his idea to six theatres across Scotland, not expecting to hear back quickly — if it all — due to theatre closures. However, within a day, Andy Arnold, artistic director of Glasgow’s Tron Theatre got in touch, much to Joe’s surprise.
“I’m very fortunate because I know everything that’s going on in the industry just now, he could have just said to me ‘Fuck off, who are you?’
“I’m very happy it’s gonna be at the Tron; it’s a Glasgow theatre and obviously I’m from Glasgow!” Joe, 38, hails from the Maryhill district of the city. Firhill for thrills.
Sooner than he might have expected, he began his research. Initially, Joe intended on canvassing Twitter for material.
“I was looking at all these guys who post ‘all lives matter’ and ‘sink the boats’ and shit like that; it’d be interesting to speak to them.
“At first I was struggling to get people to speak to me though. People thought I was Old Bill!”
Struggling for material, Joe spoke to Gary McNair who urged him to go out into the community, not an easy task in the age of social distancing. Joe was also mindful that as a black man, he could be putting himself in danger if he went out alone to ask white people about racism.
“I always had someone with me, usually my wife Viri. She’s white so that helps; it puts a lot of people at ease.”
Indeed, Joe recalls a jaw-dropping encounter with two men they met in an Edinburgh bar, an experience that is portrayed in the play.
“That was the most shocking part of the play. They were talking about their friend who sleeps with black women and how they’d never do that. That the only way this girl could get off would be if she was degraded because ‘that’s how most black women are’.
“I was surprised about how much vitriol there was; how much hate there was behind their comments.”
As Black Lives Matter protests that began in America started to gain attention in the UK, Joe admits that he was surprised at ‘how defensive my white friends were.’
“I remember reading an article about a young guy in England who ended up paralysed after being chased by the police.
“I was speaking to my friend about this and he was like ‘well that could happen to a white guy. I was like yeah but he’s not gonna be racially profiled.”
Something which he has also experienced after being pulled over for having the temerity to break into jog while being black in Luton.
“I said to one of the cops you’re profiling me, and he was almost crying — ‘well if that’s what you think of us.’
“Well, what do you want me to think?”
While this may give succour to white Scots who believe we possess more progressive values than England (or indeed Hungary, where Joe has lived for 14 years), is this belief merely a fig leaf that attempts to hide our own complicity and failure to address racism?
“Yeah definitely, that’s partly what the play’s about.
“I sat down with the director and cast as it was something we wanted to discuss. There is this idea that Scotland is somehow better than England; that we’re not racist or that we’re not as bad.
“It’s a fallacy.”
Joe is effusive in his praise of director Raman Mundair.
“She’s brilliant; as a writer, to work with her has been brilliant. It wouldn’t be close to what it is without her.”
It was she who suggested splitting the play into two acts when it became clear that Joe’s ambitious original idea to include as many stories from the productions’ staff, as well as from his own life, would be impossible to fit into an hour-long play — or indeed an 800(ish)-word feature piece.
Joe, however, is optimistic about the future.
“I guess that’ll be the sequel.”
“Things My White Friends Say” is scheduled for digital release later this year
