
WHITE GUY ON THE BUS
by Bruce Graham
Finborough Theatre
2019

Ray and Roz are a white, liberal, middle-aged couple living in the wealthy, safe suburbs of Philadelphia. He is a financial consultant who makes ’rich people richer’. She is a passionate teacher who commutes every day to educate the mainly black students of an inner-city school. On the face of it, life runs smoothly.
Yet Ray seems to hanker after change. He leaves his Mercedes in the drive, and takes to riding the public bus through the African-American neighbourhoods of the city – the only white guy on the bus. Ray becomes a regular on the same route as Shatique – a young, black, single mother who is studying to become a nurse, and determined to make a different life for her 9-year-old son. They strike up a relationship. But what does Ray really want from Shatique?
Bruce Graham’s excoriating and shocking play blows open the racial fault-lines of Trump’s America. With an all too familiar resonance here in the UK, it questions us all - what deals are we willing to make, and with which devils?

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"POLITICALLY CHARGED AND EXHILARATING"
★★★★
THE STAGE
"WILL LIVE IN THE MIND LONG AFTER OTHER PLAYS HAVE FADED"
★★★★
BROADWAY WORLD UK
"AS INSIGHTFUL AS IT IS BRUTAL"
★★★★
THE SPY IN THE STALLS
"SHARPLY ENTERTAINING"
★★★★
DAILY EXPRESS
"REAL GRIT AND TWISTED HUMOUR"
★★★★
THE UPCOMING
"PROVOKES THOUGHT WHILE KEEPING YOU ENTERTAINED"
THE GUARDIAN
"SUCH INTENSITY MAKES FOR AN UNCOMFORTABLE RIDE"
EVENING STANDARD
"COULDN'T BE MORE TOPICAL"
THE STAGE




CAST
MARINA BYE
MOLLY
SAMANTHA COUGHLAN
ROZ
DONALD SAGE MACKAY
RAY
JOANNA MCGIBBON
SHATIQUE
CARL STONE
CHRISTOPHER
TEAM
BRUCE GRAHAM
WRITER
JELENA BUDIMIR
DIRECTOR
SANNA-KARINA AAB
PRODUCER
SARAH-JANE BOOTH
SET AND COSTUME DESIGNER
ZAK MACRO
LIGHTING DESIGNER
JOE DINES
SOUND DESIGNER
ANUSKA ZAREMBA-PIKE
STAGE MANAGER
KATHERINE EDMONDS
ASSISTANT PRODUCER
HELEN MAYBANKS
PRODUCTION PHOTOGRAPY