Sixteen-year-old Jacob is uprooted by his mother. She has sold her $4million Brooklyn brownstone home to head for Texas. They are rich, black and the principal characters of the ferociously talented American playwright, David Myers. A former student of the triple Pulitzer award-winning playwright, Edward Albee (Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe, 1962, The Goat, 2000), 27-year-old David is making his own mark.
"I'm at peace with my family, at peace with myself, but there are still issues I want to explore through my plays," he says.
Upheaval, race, ownership of land and justice are some examined in his latest play, 1800 Acres, now on at the Riverside Studios.
"Take Barack Obama," David says. "You hear people asking, 'Is Obama too black to win the white vote?' Or 'Is Obama black enough to win the black vote?' - What do the associations mean?"
Is blackness inextricably linked to the ghetto? If you are rich, does it make you less black? They are points of tension that
David refuses to ignore. "It gets me down, but you can't pretend to be colourblind," he says. "I'm white and I know justice is not dealt with evenly. The cops are less likely to hassle me. But should I inherit the guilt of all the evil the white man has committed?" Luckily for us, easy answers don't make good theatre.
1800 Acres, by David Myers is at the Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, Hammersmith until October 12. Tues-Sun, 8pm. £10-17.50. Call 020 8237 1111. See www.riverside studios.co.uk
