The Play
C.L.R. James’s The Black Jacobins, dramatising the Haitian Revolution and the figure of Toussaint L’Ouverture, was first staged in London in 1936. This Royal Court revival — the first major London production in over three decades — was conceived as a statement of intent about the place of Black history and Black politics on the British stage.
James, by then in his seventies, was closely involved in the production. The script underwent significant revision for this staging, with James sharpening the play’s Marxist and anti-colonial arguments in the light of decolonisation and the Black Power movement.
The Production
Directed by Norman Beaton, who was emerging as one of the central figures in Black British theatre in this period. The cast brought together performers from the Caribbean Artists Movement milieu alongside younger actors. The production ran for six weeks in the Theatre Upstairs before transferring to the main house for a further fortnight.
Reception
The revival was the occasion for significant critical debate about the terms on which Black theatre would be received by the mainstream critical establishment. Several critics engaged seriously with the political content; others treated it primarily as spectacle. The production is extensively documented in the Black Arts archive.