On October 29, just over a week before the US midterm elections I'll be directing a one-night-only reading of Barrie Keeffe's Sus at Davidson College, where I'm currently a visiting professor of theatre.
Both a powerful condemnation of institutional racism and a desperate urge to citizens to recognize the policy consequences of their votes, Sus follows a nightmarish incident resulting from British “sus” laws, or stop-and-search policies that allowed law enforcement officers to make arrests on the grounds of pure suspicion. Set on the eve of Margaret Thatcher’s election in 1979, the play follows the harrowing interrogation of a black man wrongfully arrested for murder. As the interrogation proceeds, the two white officers watch the polling results come in, betting that a Thatcher victory will fend off pressure from the left to eliminate “sus” laws.Sus is an urgent reminder to "get out the vote" on November 6!
Both a powerful condemnation of institutional racism and a desperate urge to citizens to recognize the policy consequences of their votes, Sus follows a nightmarish incident resulting from British “sus” laws, or stop-and-search policies that allowed law enforcement officers to make arrests on the grounds of pure suspicion. Set on the eve of Margaret Thatcher’s election in 1979, the play follows the harrowing interrogation of a black man wrongfully arrested for murder. As the interrogation proceeds, the two white officers watch the polling results come in, betting that a Thatcher victory will fend off pressure from the left to eliminate “sus” laws.Sus is an urgent reminder to "get out the vote" on November 6!