Safe Space, a new play by musicals star Jamie Bogyo, has opened in London, dramatising real events from his time at Yale University. The play centres on a group of Yale students debating whether to rename Calhoun College and topple a statue of John C Calhoun, the 19th-century US vice-president and slavery advocate.
Bogyo, 32, wrote the play in 2019 based on protests that occurred in 2016. He also appears in the production as one of the students. The play includes a scene where a character is caught masturbating, which Bogyo confirms actually happened to a former Yale student. 'It really happened,' he said.
The characters include Annabelle, a well-meaning white liberal, and Isaiah, a soloist in the college's a cappella group pressured to support the anti-Calhoun cause. Bogyo said the play explores how we love people with whom we disagree, and he acknowledged his own privilege as a straight white man in navigating such disagreements.
Bogyo, who previously starred in the West End run of Moulin Rouge!, also runs a private tuition company and once tutored a member of the Bin Laden family, describing him as 'a sweet kid'. He plans to write an action caper based on his tutoring experiences.
