Games of Thrones actor defends ‘black out’ theatre nights

It is a topic that has been weaponised in the culture wars including by the previous prime minister, but now one of Britain’s leading actors has defended “black out” nights at theatres.

The Game of Thrones star Kit Harington has said the initiative of his new play to stage some performances for black-identifying audiences only was “an incredibly positive thing” and denied the claim it discriminated against white people.

The Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated actor is starring in Jeremy O Harris’s controversial drama Slave Play, which earlier this year announced two “black out” nights during its 12-week run at the Noel Coward Theatre in London’s West End.

“I’ve come to realise or believe that it’s an incredibly positive thing,” Harington told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday. “We had our first black out night the other night, it was an incredible show.

Related: Black Out nights at the theatre are vital to centre and celebrate Black audiences | Nadia Fall

“The energy on stage and in the audience was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. And I do believe with this play, in what it’s saying, that having a place where a certain group of people can come and feel open to laughing in a certain way, reacting in a certain way, in sort of safety, for two nights of the entire run, is a great thing.”

Slave Play explores the legacy of historical racial violence in three American couples’ sexual dynamics. A four-star Guardian review said: “Rarely has a West End stage seen a giant black dildo employed on a Gone With the Wind-style four-poster bed, along with antebellum master-slave cosplay and a tongue-frenzy of sexualised boot licking.”

The play triggered outrage during its off-Broadway run in 2018, including a petition for closure, but went on to receive 12 Tony nominations. When it transferred to the West End, Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson condemned plans for “black out” performances as “concerning”, “wrong and divisive”.

They said the then prime minister “believes the arts should be inclusive and open to everyone, particularly where those arts venues are in receipt of public funding”.

“Black out” performances have taken place before in the UK, with theatres in London holding such performances for Daddy, also by O Harris, as well as for Tambo & Bones, by the US playwright Dave Harris.

Responding to the criticisms, Harington said: “Number one: if you are white, no one’s stopping you buying a ticket, it’s not illegal to buy a ticket for that show.

“Number two: you know, I’ve been going to the theatre since I was young with my mum, I’ve only ever really known predominantly white audiences, it is still a particularly white space. So to have the argument that, oh, this is discriminating against white people is vaguely strange and ridiculous.”

His co-star Olivia Washington added that it was “very special” to see so many black and brown people in a 900-seat theatre. “I’ve never experienced that. As an audience member I’d never experienced that.”

She said the play explored a difficult subject matter, which “can be hard for people to hear. However, to feel supported by this room in a different kind of way felt really great.”

Slave Play’s producers previously said the intent of the two performances was “to celebrate the play with the widest possible audience”, while O Harris told BBC Radio 4 that “people have to be radically invited into a space to know that they belong there”.

In a Guardian article last year , Nadia Fall, the artistic director of Theatre Royal Stratford East, explained why it was holding two “black out” performances of Tambo & Bones, calling it “an opportunity for a Black audience to experience and reflect on the play from their own perspective”.