Ulster American

David Ireland

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781350096691
• eBook ISBN: 9781350096714
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: British Drama

Would you mind if I asked you a troubling question? Jay is the Oscar-winning actor taking the lead in a new play that connects with his Irish roots. Leigh is the ambitious director who will do anything to get noticed. Ruth is the Northern Irish playwright whose voice must be heard. The stage is set for great success, but when the three meet to discuss the play's challenges and provocations, a line is crossed and the heated discussion quickly escalates to a violent climax. Exploring consent, abuses of power and the confusions of cultural identity, Ulster American is confrontational, brutally funny and not for the faint of heart. David Ireland's recent plays include Cyprus Avenue which won the James Tait Black Award 2017 and Best Play at the Irish Times Theatre Awards 2017. This edition is published to coincide with the world premiere at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in summer 2018.

London, present day.

Leigh Carver’s living room. It’s Sunday evening, around 8pm. Jay and Leigh sit on a sofa. Jay drinks a can of Diet Coke. Leigh drinks red wine.

Jay Is there homophobia in Hollywood? Of course. And misogyny? How can we deny it? It’s reflected in so much of our output. Narrative upon narrative centred around the abuse of women, the violent abuse of women. And racism? Only a fool could pretend otherwise. We’ve come a long way since Stepin Fetchit . . . fuck we’ve come a long way since Poitier but still . . .

LeighNo I agree with what you’re saying.

JayYou ever use the n word?

LeighMm?

JayYou ever use the n word?

LeighThe n word?

JayYeah.

LeighThe actual word?

JayYeah, the actu–, you need me to say it?

LeighNo.

They laugh.

JaySo have you?

Leighshakes his head no.

JayNever?

LeighNot that I remember.

JaySo you may have? If you were drunk or –

LeighMaybe as a teenager.

JayOhh . . .

LeighBut it’s unlikely. My parents were old communists so . . . it wouldn’t have been . . .

JayI’ve never said it. I don’t even like saying the phrase ‘The N Word’. Even referencing it obliquely like this causes me discomfort.

LeighI know what you mean.

JayBut I do wonder if that’s right. Are we abnegating our responsibility to history by refusing to speak the word? Maybe we have a responsibility as white people to say it as much as possible. To take possession of the word. As our ancestors once took possession of the people. Not my ancestors obviously.

LeighNor mine.

JayMy ancestors were – uh

LeighYeah, mine were probably . . .

JayThey were not slave-owners.

LeighNo. Nor mine.

JayYou ever see Ice Cube on Real Time?

LeighWhat’s Real Time?

JayIt’s a talk show.

LeighI don’t know the American talk shows.

JayOne week Bill Maher said the n word.

LeighWho’s Bill Maher?

JayHe’s the host of the show.

LeighAnd he’s white?

JayYes.

LeighOhhhhh . . .

JayIn context it was not without irony, but it still proved controversial.

Leigh’Course.

JaySo the next week they had Ice Cube on as a guest, I know Cube, he’s very honest, straight-talking . . .

LeighHe’s a rapper, isn’t he?

JayAnd a great one. If he’d been murdered in the nineties he would be spoken about with the same reverence as Tupac and Biggie, Big Pun.

LeighMm.

JayBig L. And of course Eazy E.

LeighYasss.

JayCube made the mistake of surviving. It says something about America that we prefer our iconic black artists to meet unnecessary, preferably violent, deaths.

LeighIt’s a tragedy.

JaySo on the show he said that under no circumstances can the white man say the n word anymore. ‘That’s our word now’, he said.

LeighRight . . .

JayAnd the studio audience applauded.

LeighYou can see his point of view.

JayCompletely. But I also love what Baldwin said.

LeighWhat did Baldwin say?

JayBaldwin said that that word had nothing to do with the black race. That it was an invention of the white race and was placed upon black people without their consent.

LeighWho could argue with that?

JaySo as it’s the white’s man word, it’s the white man who must look inside himself and ask himself why he invented that word, why he needed that word in his lexicon. It’s a really good question.

LeighIt is a good question. And what was his conclusion?

JayBaldwin’s conclusion?

LeighYeah.

JayI don’t think he had one.

LeighMmm.

JayBut I think that was his point. That it was a q...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Company List
• Company Biographies
• About Traverse Theatre Company
• Characters
• Ulster American
• Acknowledgements
• eCopyright