The Scottsboro Boys

The depiction of a racially charged trial that gripped the American public eighty years ago arrived in London last month.

The Scottsboro Boys tells the true story of nine black youth unjustly accused of raping two white women in Alabama, 1931. Known as the Scottsboro Boys because the case was first heard in Scottsboro, Alabama,  the musical depicts the brutal treatment of nine black teenagers by the American justice system. The case, now widely considered to be a tragic miscarriage of justice, led to the end of all-white juries in the South.

The musical, directed by Susan Stroman with music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, received 12 Tony Award nominations for its Broadway run in 2010.

Its success propelled the cast and crew across the Atlantic to bring this saga of deep-seated Southern American racism to London’s Young Vic.

The Scottsboro Boys delivers its iconic tale of racial discrimination as a minstrel show. It’s a controversial choice considering the history of the genre, but one that critics say the show pulls off while managing to make history powerful, present – and entertaining.

The story follows the controversial trial that dragged on for two decades until the last man of the nine, acquitted of his initial death sentence, was released from prison in 1950.

But this isn’t just a historical tale, because it was only on February 4th of this year that the Governor of Alabama, in signing the Scottsboro Boys Act, finally and absolutely exonerated all nine men.

This tragic tale may shock British audiences for whom a history of slavery and racial discrimination are not so close to home. But although an American story, The Scottsboro Boys is a mirror that also forces this nation to take a look at its own racial history and discrimination. It’s a tale as tragic and transcendent now as it was then.

The Scottsboro Boys is showing at the Young Vic Theatre, London from now until 21st December. For more information or to book tickets, please visit:

http://www.youngvic.org/

Mallory Moench