#CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Play That Trump Does Not Want You to See! – Pleasance Courtyard

In August 2017 white supremacists held a ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which erupted into violence resulting in more than 30 people being injured in clashes between the so-called Alt Right and counter-protesters. The next day a white supremacist deliberately drove his car into a crowd of counter protesters, injuring 35 people and killing Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal who provided legal help to people at risk of repossessions and evictions.

Priyanka Shetty, who was at the time a student in Charlottesville, has written and performs this meticulously researched one person play. It’s a powerful production, directed by Yury Urnov, which lambasts the violent racism of the white supremacists, but also contends that what happened at Charlottesville was not an anomaly, but “the warning we ignored”.

Shetty has researched the ‘dark web’ and the play exposes the views of the neo-Nazi groups who advocate violence and want all non-white Americans to be deported. We see their words and photos projected onto the theatre’s back wall along with emblems of hate such as swastikas.

Shetty spoke to more than 100 people including Heather Heyer’s mother, local citizens, a Conservative talk show host and counter-protesters. She plays many different roles during the course of the 70-minute performance, using the actual words they used in her verbatim interviews. Particularly memorable is Shetty’s portrayal of one of the counter-protesters describing her fear of being murdered by the white supremacists. There are some light touches, too, as she captures the mannerisms of the various characters.

The raw anger makes a lasting impression as she rightly rails against not only the shocking violence perpetrated by the far-right thugs at Charlottesville, but also at the everyday racism which she and other people of colour experience regularly.

Shetty’s confidence and versatility are impressive. However, there are limits to what can be achieved in a one person show. And I did feel she portrayed too many characters and overstretched herself at times – for example when she played the tv journalists from NBC and CNN whose ‘breaking news’ stories are flashed up on screen.  Could other actors not have appeared in recordings? Or, better still, could clips from the actual tv broadcasts not have been included?

Similarly I felt that an actual clip from Trump’s notorious statement about there being “some very fine people on both sides” would have been much more effective in exposing the contortions of Trump than Shetty’s attempt to impersonate him which was mildly amusing, but failed to convey adequately Trump’s suggestion at first that there was some moral equivalence between the actions of the violent white supremacists and the counter-protesters.

Shetty has also obtained transcripts of court proceedings when the far-right leaders were sued in a civil action. She plays the judge, the lawyers for the plaintiffs and the defense as well as one of the neo-Nazis who is defending himself.  The jurors were unable to agree on two of the charges but decided that the white supremacist leaders had engaged in a conspiracy before the violent protests. They were ordered to pay $25 million in damages to the plaintiffs (those injured in the violence).

Much of the discussion in court revolved round what constitutes a conspiracy. This was not the most interesting part of the play, and I feel the court scenes should have been much shorter.

The play also deals with Shetty’s personal experiences. Originally from India, she emigrated to America in 2016. She now lives in Philadelphia, but studied Acting at the University of Virginia, which is based in Charlottesville. Shetty experienced racist attitudes in Charlottesville and even at the University and sometimes felt unwelcome. Shetty’s department head was not supportive of her work on the play. We see a distraught Shetty phoning her parents and telling them not to come over to America from India because she won’t be graduating.

However, in the show’s programme it states that Shetty did obtain a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from the University of Virginia. Puzzled by this, I sought clarification and received a statement from Shetty which explained that a faculty member persuaded a new department head to reconsider, and Shetty was allowed to graduate, the graduation being attended by her parents. And later Shetty taught acting and public speaking at the University of Virginia.

Shetty fears a backlash to the play which had its world premiere in Washington, DC in 2024. Towards the end of the show a newspaper article is flashed up on the back wall, saying she is going to Scotland for the Fringe, but isn’t sure whether she’ll be allowed to reenter the USA.

Dylan Uremovich was responsible for the original lighting and projection design. In bunker 2 of the Pleasance Courtyard the lighting was simple and effective, and the projections worked well. However, sometimes when Shetty was acting, we could also see her on the back wall. I found this rather distracting.

The mother of Heather Heyer, murdered in the rally, said she wanted her daughter’s death to be “a rallying cry for justice and equality…Heather was about stopping hatred”. At the curtain call Priyanka Shetty quotes Heather’s last Facebook post: “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention”.

#Charlottesville is well worth a watch, but most performances are already sold out. However extra performances have been arranged to cope with public demand.

#Charlottesville – The Play That Trump Does Not Want You to See! runs until 25th August. Tickets available at https://www.pleasance.co.uk

Reviewer: Tom Scott

Reviewed: 8th August 2025

North West End UK Rating: