Power of Sail, review: Diving into the choppy waters of the US culture wars

Tanya Franks as Amy in Power of Sail[Missing Credit]

You could be forgiven for thinking that the issue of tolerating far right opinion on campus has been overtaken by the tolerance given to antisemitism at universities. (Either way Jews are the most discomforted).

But as the supporting characters assert themselves here the play reveals a disturbing undercurrent in American culture that has something of the chilling effect of the Tomorrow Belongs To Me moment in Cabaret. It arrives when Nichols’s star undergrad student Luke (Michael Benz) intellectually squares up to Baxter (Giles Terera) the history professor and media star who Nichols mentored.

Baxter has returned to the faculty to persuade Nichols to drop his Nazi speaker and so save his reputation. But as white Luke and African American Baxter encounter each other in a bar the student reveals an antipathy towards Baxter that is racist as it is shameless.

Dominic Dromgoole’s production creaks somewhat as it attempts to follow the u-turning timeline of Grellong’s narrative. And the author indulges a love of plot twist that distracts from the main thrust, especially in the somewhat laboured scene where Jewish student Maggie (Katie Bernstein) confronts Amy for allowing Nichol’s invitation. But Lucas Benz superbly conveys how a white supremacist world view is gaining momentum, even in the upper echelons of American society. And if can reach there, it can reach anywhere.