Jim Greenhalf talks to black actress Shezwae Powell about her starring role in Neil Simon's latest Broadway hit Proposals, on at the Quarry Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, until August 1.

The other week one of America's most enduringly popular playwrights was in Leeds to supervise rehearsals for the European premiere of his new play.

It was Neil Simon's first visit to West Yorkshire Playhouse. But Proposals, his 30th work for the theatre which runs from July 2 to August 1, has already had a successful Broadway debut and US tour.

Proposals, set in the 1950s - in a holiday resort popular with New Yorkers - tells the story of the Hines family and their assortment of lovers, past and present, reunited for a weekend at a woodland retreat. Revelations and revaluations follow.

The play may not end happily ever after, but when the lights go up the audience should feel they've experienced something life affirming, says Californian-born but London-based actress and singer Shezwae Powell.

She plays Clemma, the family maid, who lays down the law on stage and comments to the audience about what's going on. It's the first major role the author of The Odd Couple, Plaza Suite, The Sunshine Boys, Barefoot in the Park and Lost in Yonkers (which the Alhambra staged in 1992) has written for a black actor. US reviewers were surprised.

"People are resistant to change; they want you to do the same things again and again. I think this is very funny, it's impossible for Neil Simon not to be funny. But he's 70 now and he's got other things to say. These are the thoughts of an older man," she added.

"He's written for supporting black characters before but never a leading black character - and that's also part of what people find surprising. Often parts for black actors written by non-black writers tend to be one-dimensional; but this one, Clemma, is very true to life and has many dimensions.

"I can see my mother and aunts in it in the way they spoke, their outlook on life, and the way they dealt with people. She's a very familiar character for me although the audience may not know an African-American woman like that, of the period.

"I talk to the audience. I am both in and out of the action. I really like it. As an actress it's difficult to make both attitudes real, but I like to address the audience and get personal."

Traditionally black maids have been comic figures, sometimes, like Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind, great comic figures. They bustle about in turbans telling spoiled brats to stop behaving like "white trash".

"Clemma does indeed tell everyone off. That sort of woman actually ran the family and told everyone what to do. That's not an untrue image of the time. In old films, you've mentioned Gone with the Wind, the viewpoint was always the employer's. Here you see the relationships Clemma has with the people she works for and in her own life."

Are major roles for black actors and actresses more plentiful these days?

"It's getting better by inches, but sometimes it feels like we have gone backward by feet. I would like to say, 'Yes, it's great, there's lots of work around', but there really isn't. People just don't think about it, or they don't want to. For black writers it's difficult to get their work produced."

Proposals lasts for about two hours. Shezwae Powell, whose Broadway and West End credits include Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, and Starlight Express, likens the play to Shakespeare's most popular romantic comedy.

"It has the feel of Midsummer Night's Dream because the action takes place over a short period of time at the end of summer," she said.

And the rain is not incessant, she could have added. In what was the wettest June on record, what better way to spend the time indoors than rehearsing Neil Simon's latest play?

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.