White Noise (play)

The central characters are two woke interracial couples, good friends since college. • Leo, a black artist and insomniac. • Dawn, a white liberal lawyer. Something of a "white saviour". • Ralph, a white and wealthy writer. • Misha, the black host of the YouTube show Ask a Black. Notable casts ==Plot==

Leo, out walking one night, is assaulted by police. To regain a sense of safety, he asks his friend Ralph to buy him as a slave for forty days, positing that he will be safer as a white man's property. Ralph, initially terrified of being white, male and straight, agrees. Their new relationship corrupts Ralph and releases his inner "whitey", and he joins a club exclusively for whites. In the second act, Ralph makes Leo wear a slave collar. ==Productions==

played the part of Leo in 2019 The 2019 debut at The Public Theater in New York was directed by Oskar Eustis, and included Daveed Diggs as Leo, Zoe Winters as Dawn, Thomas Sadoski as Ralph and Sheria Irving as Misha. A 2021 London production at the Bridge Theatre was directed by Polly Findlay, and included Ken Nwosu as Leo, Helena Wilson as Dawn, James Corrigan as Ralph and Faith Omole as Misha. ==Reception==

2019 Theater critic Ben Brantley said "Though White Noise runs a full three hours, and skids on some of its plot twists, it doesn’t feel long. By its end, you may marvel at how many forms, faces and exploitative uses of racial identity it has covered. ... In burrowing deep into what one character calls “the worm hole” of how we talk — and think — about race, Ms. Parks isn't cutting anyone any slack. Herself included." The Guardian's reviewer gave the play four out of five stars, saying it "finds [Parks] at her most realistic, which is fun in some ways and frustrating in others. It’s a pleasure to hear her vital, playful intelligence shoved into the mouths of contemporary, recognizable characters and then exasperating when those characters behave implausibly." Theater critic Hilton Als, in a mostly negative review, found the play lacking compared to some of Parks' earlier work. 2021 The Independent and The Daily Telegraph gave the play four out of five stars. The Times gave the play two out of five stars. The reviewer said that while the play is extremely well acted, "Parks demands three hours of your time, and in return offers a rambling piece constructed around a ludicrous premise." ==Awards==

• 2019 Obie Award, playwriting. • 2019 Outer Critics Circle Award, outstanding new off-Broadway play. == References ==