JOE GUY. To 24 November.
London
JOE GUY
by Roy Williams.
Soho Theatre 23 October-24 November 2007.
Mob-Sat 7.30pm Mat 3, 10, 17, 24 Nov 4pm.
Runs 1hr 55min No interval.
TICKETS: 0870 429 6883.
www.sohotheatre.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 18 October at New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich.
Supercool hero keeps boiling over.
Being young, gifted and black isn’t all it’s cracked up to be for new footballing star Joe Boateng, as Roy Williams’ new play shows, tracking back a decade from its comic opening where the soccer sensation, protected by a posturing minder, is being interviewed in a suave hotel. The two men’s chat leaves the female interviewer outpaced, till she cuts through it with a scandal-threatening question.
A decade back, and Joe’s a humble burger-boy, suffering the taunts of White Monique and ex-school enemy, lighter-skinned Black, Marcus. Only young Naomi is sympathetic, taking the initiative in starting a relationship with the shy lad.
When Joe’s star rises, his repressions roll out in a verbal torrent, a tour de force verbal bashing for all the years of shame. But celebrity brings scandal when Joe’s lumbered with a rape allegation he can only throw off by making an admission he finds impossible.
There are fine scenes in Williams’ play, such as the conflict between Joe and an older Black team-member, Joe using his youth as a weapon against someone past his peak. He’s good too in the quiet of a police-cell, mixing comedy with the play’s most serious point, one that flings earlier sympathies right round, bringing justifiable criticism of Joe from the most unlikely source. For Joe is very much a character of two halves.
Femi Elufowoju Jr’s production for his company Tiata Fahodzi plays up the strong points of comedy and conflict, without hiding the pedestrian nature of a few scenes, like the star’s visit to his father. But the director’s worst decision is to play this two-act drama without the interval which would have given breathing space to a play which repeatedly returns to its central character in moments of rage.
Abdul Salis captures Joe’s several facets with confidence and there’s good playing around him, particularly from Syan Blake’s sympathetic Naomi and Alexis Rodney, whose Marcus is a fearsome bully maturing into someone who can tell the arrogant, blustering celebrity, “I grew up…It would appear you grew down.” Williams has written an intriguing piece. But it badly needs an interval.
Joe Boateng: Abdul Salis.
Buddy/Carl ‘The Blaster’ Thomas/Jude Boateng: Mo Sesay.
Monique Christie/Helen Blake: Heather Craney.
Naomi Brown: Syan Blake.
Marcus Pryce: Alexis Rodney.
Tel Hanson/Sarge: Michael Brogan.
Rod Campbell: Joseph Morgan.
Director/Dramaturg: Femi Elufowoju Jr.
Designer: Yukiko Tsukamoto.
Lighting: Rockhill (Ayo-Dele Ajana, Emmanuel Edwards, Goziam Okogwu)
Sound: Simon McCorry.
2007-10-21 00:41:50