GATES OF GAZA touring till 25 October.
Tour.
GATES OF GAZA
by Juliet Gilkes Romero.
Big Creative Ideas at The Door, Birmingham Rep.
Runs: 2h 25m, one interval, till 4 October at the Rep then touring till 25 October 2008.
Review: Rod Dungate 3 October.
A story that had to be told; a well-made drama.
Juliet Gilkes Romero uncovers something hidden (at least to me) and in doing so makes a powerful comment on today’s society. The play centres around a group of soldiers holed up in a forgotten outpost in Palestine in 1915. They are surrounded by enemy, they fight (sometimes each other) for survival. The setting is dramatic, the tensions real. Interesting, but not totally new you might think. Until you recognise that the soldiers are from the British West Indian Regiment. These soldiers, fighting for King and Empire, are also engaged in a struggle to find their own identities as black people.
Romero’s ability to tell this moving story while examining a much bigger issue is one of the reasons her play feels so mature. Other reasons are her in-depth research and her mature skill at handling psychological realism and incident. In less sure hands any scene on stage with men pointing rifles and guns at each other could appear, at best embarrassing; here, aided by director Steven Luckie’s sure hand, we have solid drama.
The soldiers in question come from a number of islands in the West Indies; but we follow, really, the journey of Fairchild, a mixed race youngster from Liverpool. He thinks he should be with a white regiment, fighting Germans. Curtis Jay Cole gives a fine performance as the childish and selfish Fairchild; he’s run away from the hell his home was into a hell that’s even worse. All these men exist in a hell that’s entirely of someone else’s making. Among a strong cast, Fabian Spencer creates a dangerous ally in Big George.
Romero tops and tails her play with short scenes to drive home her point . . . I’m not certain they’re necessary. That her play occasionally wears its heart too clearly on its sleeve is easily forgiven. This is a strong play in a well paced production by Steven Luckie; and, as ever with WW1 plays, we can’t forget that all the killing and maiming was for no purpose and at the behest of a few people who almost certainly didn’t suffer.
Fairchild: Curtis Jay Cole.
Walcott: Fabian Spencer.
Patterson: Ben Bennett.
Miller: Matthew Moxon.
Styles: Toyin Omari-Kinch.
Big George: Fabian Spencer.
Director: Steven Luckie.
Set Designer: Mark Walters.
Lighting Crin Claxton.
Sound: Colin Thorpe.
Dramaturg: Neil Grutchfield.
Fight Director: Daniel Kobbina.
Voice Coach: Claudette Williams.
PS Here’s a review of three girls sitting behind me:
Whisper, whisper, whisper, yak, yak, yak, fidget, fidget, fidget, Is he dead? I’ve got to be home by 10, yak, yak, yak. For goodness sake girls, don’t go anywhere near a theatre again. You’re better off watching crap like Big Brother.
2008-10-04 10:35:24