Bruising picture of bigotry

10 April 2012

Portrait of a Racist As A Young Man would have been a derivative but more fitting title for DC Moore's inquisitive, workmanlike drama, brought to life by yet more exceptional young acting talent at the Court.

Frank is the bigot in question, an intense university drop-out whose brooding aura is a magnet to workmates at his local cinema. Even new recruit Mamta wants him, flirting artlessly, increasingly confused as to why he won't respond to her charms. He eventually reveals his darker side, and lives to regret it.

Frank is not playing at troubled youth - - inside, he is indeed a mess of frustrations and sexual confusion. Rafe Spall, son of Timothy, is a revelation in the role. Smarting from failure at college and with Christine Bottomley's beautifully tender-hearted Emma, he hides at first behind blank cool, then bullying aggression, then finally fiery, rhetorical assertions of a racist creed rooted in clouded knowledge of world politics.

The assertion that racism is a by-product of insecurity is a little cosy - but Moore offers other, studiously highlighted insights into the phenomenon. When Frank is beaten up, there emerges the question of what racism justifies, whether the defence of liberal ideas is just another form of power abuse. Meanwhile, Frank's hideously vapid fellow students and the mindless TV blasting from Fred Meller's set encourage us to wonder that, even if Frank's world view is dangerously misguided, at least he has a worldview. Persistently engrossing then, though I can't quite work out what Alaska has to do with it.
Until 23 June (020 7565 5000).

Alaska
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs At The Royal Court
Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS

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