After a somewhat tortuous journey into Leeds, arriving only just in time for the show, I was more than a little stressed out, in fact, it was only the lure of the company who produced this performance, imitating the dog, which prevented me from abandoning my battle with public transport and going back home. My tenacity was well rewarded.
imitating the dog describe themselves as storytellers, which indeed they are. It is the way in which they tell their stories, however, which sets them apart. The first production I saw was Night of the Living Dead – Remix, in 2020. In this they showed the original B movie on one screen, whilst reshooting it and projecting their version on a second. This, obviously called for perfect timing with no second chances. The others have also included video cameras and projections, All Blood Runs Red being no exception.
Morgan Bailey
The story being told here is that of Eugene Bullard, a black American born in 1895, who ran away from home at the age of 11, after seeing a mob try to lynch his father, and joined a band of gypsies. He then became a jockey for the Turner family. Inspired by his father’s stories of France and those of the travellers who told him that racial barriers did not exist in the UK, he stowed away on a German ship and alighted at Aberdeen, making his way to Liverpool, where he learned to box. He moved to London and used his new-found skill under trainer, Dixie Kid, who arranged for him to fight in Paris where he decided to remain to continue his career in pugilism and work in a music hall.
When the First World War broke out he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion becoming a machine gunner seeing action in several places, including The Somme. After being seriously wounded at the Battle of Verdun in 1916, he learned to fly and became a fighter pilot on his recovery. He was awarded many honours including the Croix de guerre.
After discharge he returned to Paris, and show business, as a jazz drummer at Zelli’s, a club which had a late licence so could stay open after midnight when the others closed. It became the most famous club in Montmartre. He then moved on to play with a jazz group at Hotel Claridge in Alexandria, Egypt, where he also returned to the ring for a couple of prize fights.
Returning to Paris he was eventually able to buy Le Grand Duc, an already popular jazz club, where he met fellow American émigré, Josephine Baker and trumpeter Louis Armstrong, going on to acquire another nightclub and open a gym, Bullard’s Athletic Club, where he trained boxers.
He married in 1923 but it ended in divorce twelve years later when his wife abandoned him, and their two surviving daughters.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, the French Government approached him to spy on the Germans who frequented his nightclub, knowing he had learned to speak German during his time on the ship to Aberdeen.
After volunteering to fight once again for France, in 1940 he was badly wounded defending Orléans but escaped to Spain, which was neutral, and then on to USA.
He settled in New York, but was an unknown back in his native land so took jobs as a perfume salesman, security guard and an interpreter for Louis Armstrong. He never recovered fully from his wounds so his opportunities were restricted. He tried to regain his nightclub in Paris, but it had been destroyed during the war. He received a financial settlement from the French government with which was used to buy an apartment in Harlem.
In 1949 Eugene attended a concert given by Paul Robeson in Peekskill, New York, for the benefit of the Civil Rights Congress. It ended in violence when the concertgoers were attacked by locals as they left. The assailants included members of the state and local law enforcement departments. Thirteen people were badly injured including Bullard. The Peekskill Riots, as they were known, are featured in two documentaries, The Tallest Tree in Our Forest and the Oscar-winning, Robeson: Tribute to an Artist, narrated by Sidney Poitier. No one was ever prosecuted.
His final job was that of lift operator in the Rockefeller Centre, where someone recognised the Croix de guerre he wore with other medals on his elevator uniform. They asked him to be a guest on NBC’s Today Show. Appearing in full uniform he prompted hundreds of letters from viewers.
Eugene Bullard died of stomach cancer on 12th October, 1961, aged 66. He was buried with military honours in the French War Veterans’ section of Flushing Cemetery in Queens, New York, the final resting place of his friend Louis Armstrong.
The show would have been fascinating if delivered in a lecture format but when given the imitating the dog treatment it was incredible. The piece was performed by Morgan Bailey, who co-wrote it with Peter Brooks, Simon Wainwright and Andrew Quick. The Director was Tyrone Huggins.
The premise of the show was that Morgan Bailey is meeting two friends in the film industry for lunch in a Parisian cafe in 2022. He has just had a film released in which he played a black American GI serving in France, where Mr Bailey was living. During the meal he receives a phone call from his agent asking him to a meeting the following day at his office. He explains to his dining companions, both played by the actor himself, that he is to make a pitch to try to get a film which he wrote during the quiet times on set, into production. He then relates the synopsis to them. It is called All Blood Runs Red, a slogan Eugene Bullard had painted on his fighter plane.
Technology plays a big part in the narration, with a large white screen to the rear of the stage being used to project images creating the mood of the moment. The close-up action is displayed on white cards, carried by the actor, illustrating the crux of the episodes being featured. The total effect was astounding, although, as some of the cards were held a an angle to the audience, they may not all have been fully visible. Fortunately I was in the main stalls area so got the full effect, those on the side balconies might have missed out on a portion, but I doubt it was enough to spoil the experience.
Although the action switched from Eugene’s life to the present, it was easy to keep up with, as a timeline kept being displayed as the action moved on, with the legend, Paris 2022, projected to indicate that we were back at the lunch date.
Morgan Bailey used extracts from the film he had starred in, along with newsreels and excerpts from other familiar works, such as Forrest Gump. He traced the parallels between the story of Eugene and the experiences and feelings of his film character and himself.
The acting was brilliant, with his portrayal of his two mates, Mike and Dave, very amusing, and his bout, conducted in silhouette on the rear screen, giving a whole new meaning to the term shadow boxing.
There was also an Epilogue in which Eugene Bullard seemed to conduct a live interview with Morgan Bailey, a phenomenal piece of photo trickery.
The play was funny and also very moving, conveying feelings as well as facts, in a sympathetic way, leaving some of the audience in tears. I wasn’t so far off myself.
Sadly, All Blood Runs Red was only at Leeds Playhouse for two nights but it is on tour at Key Theatre, Peterborough on 25th and 26th February, The Lowry, Salford Quays on 4th March, The Dukes, Lancaster on 7th and 8th March, Cast, Doncaster, 11th and 12th March and Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry on 13th and 14th March.
For more details about imitating the dog, please go to https://www.imitatingthedog.co.uk/ and to see what is coming up at Leeds Playhouse it is https://www.leedsplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on/
All photographs by Ed Waring. There seems to have been a rethink in the costume and hairdressing department since the photographs were taken!
Tyke It To The Limit 