Theatre: HUID! (SKIN!) – “ We are not black, we are brown” (Netherlands)

HUID! (SKIN!) is the title of the latest play of Dutch Antillean director/actor Raymi Sambo.

Premiere on Saterday October 2nd 2010 in Theater aan het Spui, The Hague (Netherlands), 8.30 pm.

It’s a play about discrimination (or Colourism) among Antilleans. Because what if you don’t have the good nose, the good hair and if you have not inherited the lightest skin colour of the family? SKIN! is also about the universal quest of what's beneath your skin. Who you are regardless of your colour, origin and gender. But, how do you address the issue?

“ We are not black, we are brown”



Synopsis: On his twenty-first birthday Steve, the loved one of a Dutch Antillean family, rebels against the norms of the family. For his dominating mother black is equal to weak, lazy, poor, ugly and aggressive. Steve no longer wants to deny his colour and background. He invites, as a surprise, a guest for the traditional family dinner on his birthday. Thus forcing all his family members to show their colours. His action unleashes more emotions than he had imagined.

HUID! With Raymi Sambo, Everon Jackson Hooi, John Serkei, Urmie Plein, Jaike Belfor, and Naomi Mac-Donald

More information: www.mojotheater.nl/

I must admit that in my Creole family skin colour and “good” hair is hardly debated. Maybe I will drop the bomb at my family diner next time, and ask some family members: “How does it feel to be light-skinned? And drop the we-are-all-from-Africa nonsense.”