Facing Down Racism - Skyfall Actor Plays 'The Scottsboro Boys', A Tale About The Biggest Race Trial In American History

You'd think it would be hard for an actor to leave one job and embark on another one with only a day's rest. But as Adebayo Bolaji explains, "As actors, that's what we train for."

The 9 Scottsboro Boys

Hot on the heels of his successful stint in the hit West End adaptation ofThe Color Purple, Bolaji is now undertaking a production of similar intensity, though the story itself is perhaps lesser known than Alice Walker's famous novel-turned-movie. Opening at The Young Vic, The Scottsboro Boys brings to life the infamous tale of the nine young black men, aged between 12 and 19, who, in Scottsboro, Alabama in 1931, had their lives turned upside down when they were falsely accused of raping two white women on a train.

Even though one of the women later recanted her accusation, and in spite of a total absence of evidence, the boys were convicted. Their subsequent trials and appeals threw issues of racism and the right to a fair trial into the forefront and deeply divided the nation. read more