ACHIDI J'S FINAL HOURS. To 29 May.

London

ACHIDI J'S FINAL HOURS
by Amy Evans

Finborough Theatre To 29 May 2004
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Sun 3.30pm
Runs 1hr 40min No interval

TICKETS: 020 7373 3842
www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 9 May 2004

Men are from Germany, women are from Senegal in this tough new play.I'm sure it's my fault, but though Achidi J's clearly important to this play, though his photo seems to lie on a table in one scene and a baby's named after him in another, I have no clear idea who he was. Perhaps the huddled figure we saw at the start (though saw' is putting it optimistically given the state of Alex Wardle's lighting here) who ran off as German racists chanted nearby? If so, Isa from Senegal is presumably carrying his baby when she's taken in by impoverished and presumably native German - Alex.

Amy Evans isn't one to build things slowly while you fold your coat, put on your specs and unwrap your first sweet of the evening. Breathless pace, cinematic switches of character and location, and brisk dialogue give her play its urgency. No wonder it appeals to production company Frontline, whose season also includes new plays at Chelsea Theatre and, in late June, Southwark Playhouse.

It's also American-born Evans' first play. She's clearly taken with racism as a subject and it could be raw passion makes up for raw edges in structure and character development. Achidi J's Final Hours is memorable more for vivid scenes than overall action.

Though men predominate numerically they flutter round the action's peripheries. Even Alex is seen only in relation to Isa. She's someone who's strong and independent-minded. Along with her friend Awa. At least I think they're friends. They're certainly on the same side, which is outside the play's racism-tinged Germany. Assertive's a mild word for Awa, who has a nifty line in verbal fencing when faced with low-level harassment from plainclothes cops.

Che Walker's production pulses along (though scene-breaks need a recharge at times). This is a dynamic portrait of an under-society surviving just; roughly through drugs and prostitution, low wages and personal pride. Acted with commitment, directed with attention to the dark toughness beneath official oblivion, it's a live, colourful panorama of people whose lives are squeezed into a monochrome survival struggle. Where, ironically, skin colour and ethnicity splinter people, inducing both unthinking hate and personal strength.

Achidi J: Winston Atour
Alex: Martin Brody
Andy: Dan Rabin
Isa: Amanda Wright
Awa: Linda Gathu
Civil Servant: Carsten Hayes
Stephan S: James Alper
Jurgen F: Kevin O'Donohoe
Guy: Eddie Daniels

Director: Che Walker
Designer: Dick Bird
Design Direction: Fiammetta Horvat
Lighting: Alex Wardle
Sound: Jack C Arnold
Assistant director: Melissa Smith

2004-05-12 12:01:01