The Greene Card: The Unbelievable, Yet Completely True, Story of a Brown Boy in a White World

By Gwenni Hawkins

Sevan Greene, in The Greene Card tells his autobiographical story of his attempts to become a “regular American”, flitting between monologue, stand-up comedy, and impressive musical showstoppers in this journey of self-loss and rediscovery.

Emerging out of Canary Wharf underground station, to the apex of capitalism, I was struck by how incongruous an area this seemed for a cabaret piece on what it is to be a young Pakistani Lebanese Armenian man growing up in America. The beginning of the show, which explains Greene’s young fascination with American culture, is an ode to all that makes a capitalist tick. He commences with a rendition of Disney’s “Part of Your World”, directed at America, which establishes the fallacy of American ‘liberalism’ that will later disappoint him. The show follows him trying to follow his dreams of becoming a performer in a judgemental America, which sees him oscillating between outrage at the discrimination he faces- “What the fuck is a brown actor?” and attempting to assimilate to accepted standards while recognising his otherness- “I own that poison”. The discussion of the “different types of racism” is apt for an Islamophobic 21st century, and validates The Greene Card’s relevance.

It is testament to Greene’s talented storytelling that he navigates comedy and tragedy in a way that allows the tragedy to sit with the audience, while swiftly returning to the light-hearted tone that permeates the piece. In this sense, cabaret is the ideal medium for Greene to tell his story, as it allows for genuine emotional appeal and communication, while allowing for enough humour and joy to avoid didacticism while dealing with topics such as racism and bigotry.

Perhaps a third of the way through the show, Greene’s on-man show is interrupted by three actors who then intermittently provide a range of supporting characters, ranging from his first group of friends who take him under their wings in Florida (“God’s glorious waiting room”) to the various unscrupulous industry experts who scrutinise him once he makes it to Broadway. Although I was initially disappointed that Greene’s mesmeric individual performance was going to be diluted, this feeling was very quickly banished by the rousing chorus of ‘joyful, joyful’ they initiated. Throughout the rest of the show, the three singers never detracted from his narrative, but instead enhanced it through some mind-blowing singing, which amplified the power of the show instead of diluting it.

Towards the end of The Greene Card, Greene makes the decision to move to London to pursue his theatrical ambitions, and wonders if his story would have been different in the United Kingdom, namely because of its more inclusive and tolerant society. Although there is no clear answer to this question, I would firmly like to think so, and hope that there is a future for this show away from fringe London theatre, so that it can reach a wider audience. This would go a way towards promoting inclusivity in the arts, and also giving shows like this, with minimal budget but boundless talent and promise, the recognition and appreciation they deserve.

After the formal ‘ending’ of the piece, Greene announced that nightly, after each performance he and his musicians would sing a different only-heard-once musical number. On the evening I attended, the choice of the evening was “Mama who bore me” from Spring Awakening, which he explained was a tribute to his mother who had her own dreams of being an actress scuppered by societal expectations. It was a lovely touch, and kept a raw, rough-and-ready side to the evening, which kept the show true to the real nature of cabaret.

In short: The Greene Card was one of the best pieces of theatre I have seen in a long while. It is truly deserving of a transfer to a bigger venue, so that the talent involved, and the issues discussed can move as many people as possible, not only in terms of emotional reaction, but also in the desire to change the face of heteronormative theatre that is all too familiar and tired.

The Greene Card: The Unbelievable, Yet Completely True, Story of a Brown Boy in a White World

The Space, 269 Westferry Road, London, E14 3RS

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