Rihanna, sex toys and role play – Slave Play has it all but it’s the show’s “black out” nights, which invite a black-only audience, that are getting more attention than the play’s themes of race, sexuality and identity.

Black out nights were conceived in 2019 by Slave Play’s writer Jeremy O Harris. The official website describes the nights as being for “an all-black-identifying audience” that’s “free from the white gaze”.

When they were announced, there was outcry from parts of…