Theatre review: A Kind of People

Racism and insidious forms of discrimination seem to have been a major theme in London theatre over the last week, and at the Royal Court Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's A Kind of People aims to cover not just the obvious instances of casual and not-so-casual racism, but also deeply-ingrained prejudices and preconceptions based on class and background. It's an ambition that doesn't quite pay off but builds some strong moments in a story built around a mixed-race couple – Gary (Richie Campbell) is black, his wife Nicky (Claire-Louise Cordwell) is white, and they've been together since they were 16. At the time they faced a lot of obstacles, particularly from her father, but several years and three children later they're settled in a flat on an estate, to all intents and purposes as happy together as they've ever been. Their close circle of friends are people they grew up with, including Mark (Thomas Coombes,) with whom Gary also works as a dishwasher engineer.

At a low-key birthday party for Mark, their boss Victoria (Amy Morgan) unexpectedly comes along, and after quickly getting drunk makes a number of inappropriate comments, both about black people in general and directed at Gary in particular.

When Gary is passed over for promotion in favour of a less experienced white colleague, he confronts Victoria about the fact, using the racist sentiments she expressed at the party as proof. Things get heated as Victoria denies anything of the sort, and Gary ends up quitting; as the financial reality of what this means sinks in, so does what it means for the previously rock-solid relationship. The couple's unseen children provide a number of subplots: Their eldest is going up for the 11-plus alongside the son of their friends Anjum (Manjinder Virk) and Mo (Asif Khan,) while their youngest suffers from undiagnosed behavioural problems that are coming to a head. Meanwhile everyone is trying to organise a fundraising fête for their children's school.

Bhatti sets the scene largely as a comedy, presenting the friends as the kind of multiracial group you'd see in a sitcom, and would hope represents many pockets of real life. Gary's recently single sister Karen (Petra Letang) is - until Victoria's destructive arrival - the closest thing to an outside point of view and gets a lot of the best lines. It's a canny way of getting the audience both to get to know the characters and their relationships, and care about them, so when Anna Fleischle's brutalist set starts crushing them under the weight of what happens it's painful to watch. But Michael Buffong's production is stronger on the comedy than it is on the drama which forms the heart of the piece - despite a genuinely heartbreaking turn from Cordwell the play descends very much into soap opera.

This is largely because of all the different storylines Bhatti weaves in, and it's hard to fault her intentions: A Kind of People is incredibly even-handed and clearly wants to avoid pointing a finger purely at white-on-black prejudice. Victoria may be monstrous but one of the most hurtful moments comes when Anjum, who's previously shared her experiences of being discriminated against, reveals her own classist sentiments about Nicky's background and her children's prospects. Mo meanwhile would seem to prove the worst stereotypes about pushy Asian parents, while Mark may seem almost childishly oblivious to race but his attitude to women proves problematic. Essentially nobody comes out of events smelling of roses; the play feels harsh but scrupulously fair, with its steady descent into melodrama the only thing that drags it down - but for me, it did prove a major downside.

A Kind of People by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti is booking until the 18th of January at the Royal Court's Jerwood Theatre Downstairs.

Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes straight through.

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan.