Out West is a collection of three one actor plays by three renowned playwrights, linked by each play illustrating differing aspects of racism and alluding to the area where the Lyric Theatre is today. One is about a mixed race marriage, one about a black woman's fight for self esteem and one about a law student from overseas arriving in Britain in the reign of Queen Victoria.
David Jonsson has wonderfully expressive hands, his long fingers often outstretched to communicate. His enthusiasm when describing the dishes of food animatedly or his reflecting on his unexpected first journey in a limousine charm. There is humour too, he says, "I have a feeling she may die on my birthday," and gives us a wry look.
Its very title would have conjured up then, as it does now, the unnecessary death of a man in custody or at the hands of the police. Although in the play there is the death of Shakie (Nickcolia King-N'da)'s father, a jazz musician in Manchester, the title The Death of a Black Man may be a metaphor.