The soundstage soul-barer
How a playwright is using experimental film ear for eye to shine a light on oppression
A SUCCESSFUL 2018 play about racial injustice, ear for eye has now been reimagined for the screen. But as films go, it’s hugely experimental: shot entirely on a single soundstage, with everything from room furnishings to walls excluded, to give the feel of an abstract, infinite black space.
“We are suggesting, as opposed to dictating, visually,” explains the film’s writer and director, debbie tucker green (she uses lower case for her name), adapting from her own play. “Which gives room for audiences to bring their own shit to the table. But you’re not just staring at a black screen.” The switch to film also allows for an “intimacy specific to screen”. Dialogue has been trimmed to focus more on the actors’ nuances. Visual effects have been added to imply seasonal changes. “There’s a lot of stuff in there,” tucker green says. “Textures, tones, flavours… real juice!”
It’s unconventional in other ways, too. Divided into three parts, it’s comprised of a series of intergenerational conversations between Black people about race and oppression, and how wisdom informs their political approach. Part 1 has 14 speaking parts, with actors including Tosin Cole, Danny Sapani, and Carmen Munroe. Part 2 sees returning cast member Lashana Lynch (‘US Female’) exchanging a tense volley of opinions with Demetri Goritsas as a pompous white lecturer (‘US Male’). Part 3, meanwhile, sees 55 speaking parts chillingly reciting British slave codes and American Jim Crow laws.
“It touches on a bunch of different characters, their situations and moments of their lives,” tucker green says. “You’re dipping in and out of moments of people’s conversations — almost like eavesdropping. Younger generations talk about direct-action protest, but you’re not explicitly told what they may have done. Then you have others who may have protested more conventionally and some who may not have protested at all.”
But despite the political approach, there’s no lecture, lesson or prescriptive message. “The audience has room to conclude what they want,” tucker green says. “If there even are conclusions.” It’s a bold, idiosyncratic experiment — and there are no easy answers.