Alterations Actor Raphel Famotibe on generational difference and youth resistance
Banseka Kayembe
Plays have the power to challenge, provoke, and expose - and Alterations, a new production at The National Theatre does just that. A slow unraveling drama that takes place in Guyanese and aspiring entrepreneur Walker Holt’s tailorshop, where he works tirelessly over 24 hours to satisfy his new client’s impossible tailoring needs.
Inseparable from its 1970s roots, Alternations is a story that reminds us that many of these same struggles are entirely relevant to today. Courtney is the young black boy caught in the crossroads of these issues, played by the emerging actor Raphel Famotibe. We sat down with Raphel to discuss the complexities of playing Courtney, the historical and political weight of Alternations, and what the play reveals about the world we live in today
Naked Politics: Tell us a bit about your character in Alterations, what is their place in the story? Are there any aspects of their character that feel relatable to you, or that you were drawn to?
Courtney represents the youth of the late 1970s. In the play, he's also the main indicator of where our play takes place being as we are surrounded by so many beautiful Caribbean voices in the shop. There's a lot relatable [between] me and Courtney. I understand some of the racial tensions he would have experienced. I also understand the feeling of the youth looking towards a hopeless future not catered for them. One of the many things that drew me towards him was within all he talks about and has clearly experienced, he still has such an energy and loves to have a laugh, which is just amazing. Also, just the mere fact the play is set in the 1970's sold it for me.
Naked Politics: Alternations engages with significant political themes, such as financial hardship, racism and what the best way to fight your oppression is. As an actor, how did those elements resonate with you personally?
All three political themes have resonated with me in every way, and at different points of my life. I have attempted to overcome all three and as I've got older, I've taken on many approaches and journeyed through many perspectives of the best ways to overcome the themes in today's modern world. When reading the play I realised that this is a conversation that has been going on for over 50 years amongst black males which just amazed me but also brought a wave of sadness that the struggle and themes are still so relevant in the present, amongst us.
Playing Courtney, I've had the ability to express the youthful fight that I have and had over the years, growing up in a not so racially friendly environment and only a few years after the BLM marches of 2020, so Courtney's energy isn't so far away from me.
And the hopelessness of the future of the youth and feeling disregarded is still so relevant and maybe not as strong in the form of finding jobs as it was for them in the 1970's but just quality of life and finding homes to live in which is seeming to become increasingly more unaffordable for people of my generation.
Naked Politics: Your character Courtney becomes a bit of a vehicle for the generational differences between first generation Windrush migrants who weren't born and raised in the UK, and the first generation of Caribbean people who grow up in the UK. What are some of these generational tensions Alternations explores?
I think the play touches on the communication issues between the different generations; both almost wanting the same thing but having different experiences - one generation only knowing this as home and another coming over making a new home here. The youth want to fight for what they believe they deserve, whilst the older generation seem to want to fight without directly disturbing the peace of those who were here before they came over.
Naked Politics: What's been your journey into acting? Have there been challenges in making it in a creative industry, at a time when creative roles and opportunities feel more rare?
I've had quite a journey from leaving college, fortunately with an agent from part time training I did during my first year. I then took a "gap year" from university, where I spent three years working as an actor, part time training in many institutions, and learning a lot about the industry. I then went to drama school for three years after being curious for many years about what it would be like, and always having a love for the craft of acting. I'm now in my fourth year out of drama school, and here I am.
There are always challenges, many of which are external and out of your control as an actor with casting and opportunities. But also, one of the biggest challenges is maintaining a balanced life whilst not acting, but still allowing yourself to be ready and available for opportunities that will arise.
Naked Politics: Do you have any advice for young people wanting to get into acting?
My advice would be to keep exploring, keep playing and maintain the fun and reasons for you to choose acting as a journey in the first place. Also know there will always be difficulties, but allow yourself to be aware of that and accept them. And actions: do, do, do. Better out trying things than correcting them in your head.
Naked Politics: Are there any particular roles or types of characters you're eager to explore in the future? How has this experience informed your aspirations?
There're many character types I'd love to play. My answer would be limitless. I'm always wanting to play something different and learn and grow within myself and my knowledge. This play has allowed me to learn so much more in depth of that period and the Windrush generation and the culture of the time. But also, about those who have come before us like Michael Abbensetts the writer, his contemporaries like Horace Ove and films and actors from the likes Babylon & Pressure, the works of Norman Beaton and many others who I spent more time looking into. They paved the way for us. Also doing the play allowed me to just know that I can do it and as simple as that sounds, it does a lot.
Alternations is running at the Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre, London, until 5 April
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