FAMILYMAN. To 31 May.
London.
FAMILYMAN
by Rikki Beadle-Blair.
Theatre Royal Stratford East To 31 May 2008.
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Mat 31 May 2pm.
Runs 2hr 20min One interval.
TICKETS: 020 8534 0310.
www.stratfordeast.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 28 May.
Raises laughter, excavates relationships, delights the audience.
The lights had hardly snapped out before a voice in the circle shouted “Wicked”. Applause all round confirmed the view. And throughout, murmured (and not-so-murmured) audience reactions showed something was happening that’s rarely experienced; except perhaps at Stratford East where author Rikki Beadle-Blair says the audience is “noisy…the nearest….to experiencing what theatre-going must have been like at Shakespeare’s Globe”.
Except, unlike the self-consciously invoked callings-out encouraged in the early days of the present Shakespeare’s Globe, these are genuinely-felt responses to what’s happening on stage. If you want to see an audience really connecting with a play, see Familyman.
For all the ambitious names, Precious, Caesar, Nelson, through the Ramsay generations, they’re an ordinary family. Except Caribbean Caesar never married White partner Deanna during their 17-year relationship. Their life’s reflected precisely in the neatly wallpapered room, the well-laid table with stylish plates for the meal where 17-year old son Nelson brings home pregnant Black wife Ayesha.
News of the pregnancy leads to a first act where Caesar’s scorchingly sarcastic put-downs stifle the youngsters’ airy idealism then send Ayesha away, before Nelson’s bid for liberty is turned into an humiliating moment, leaving him next to naked.
Things become more complex after the interval, the solid rear wall rising to open a deeper perspective into Caesar’s past. His redoubtably comic mother Precious, with her trust in “licks” from a belt, takes on a less cuddly colouring. And the painful history behind his attitude to Nelson is explored. The kaleidoscope of scenes can’t maintain the forward comic thrust of the first part and the play becomes end-loaded with problematic issues.
As so many family plays are. But the problems and eventual movement towards a resolution keep hitting home with the audience in Dawn Reid’s sharp production. Gary Beadle fulminates splendidly, as Caesar so often says what’s right in the wrong way; Jo Castleton’s Deanna patiently tries to temper situations. Ricci McLeod shows Caesar’s determination and frustration. Ayesha Antoine’s Keisha, lifting her arm to speak as if in front of a tough teacher, and Llewella Gideon’s self-certain Precious stand out in the overall strong cast.
Caesar: Gary Beadle.
Deanna: Jo Castleton.
Nelson: Ricci McLeod.
Che: Aaron Taylor.
Keisha: Ayesha Antoine.
Evita: Jo Martin.
Precious/Nana Grace. Llewella Gideon.
Director: Dawn Reid.
Designer: Nick Barnes.
Lighting: Mark Doubleday.
Sound: James Tebb for Thames Audio.
Music producer: Excalibah.
2008-05-29 11:12:05