Playboy of the West Indies
Nottingham
PLAYBOY OF THE WEST INDIES
by Mustapha Matura
Nottingham Playhouse to 12 February 2005
Tue-Sat 7.45pm Mat 5th Feb 2.30pm, 10th Feb 1.30pm
Audio-described 8th, 9th Feb 7.45pm
Post-show talk 8th Feb
Runs 2hr 15min One interval
TICKETS: 0115 9419419
www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
Review: Jen Mitchell 2nd February 2005
County Mayo, Ireland transported to the sultry Caribbean island of Trinidad. Geographically remote.
But scratch the surface and the similarities are apparent close knit communities, a reliance on fishing and to quote Matura discussing the reason for setting his play in Trinidad, the cultural similarities of the people of Colonial Ireland and the people of Colonial Trinidad and the shared appreciation for the beauty and poetry of language'.
Whereas J.M. Synge's original play Playboy of the Western World' was written as a political piece, highlighting some harsh social realities, not much of this is apparent in Matura's play. It focuses more on the relationships that exist in a finely balanced community and how easily these are disturbed when somebody new appears on the scene.
Particularly someone who stirs up as much passion Ken, the outsider who professes to have murdered his father.
He arrives at a time when the young Peggy's fate is seemingly sealed. Working in her father's rum shop, she appears from the onset to be discontented and out of kilter with what is expected of her. She is courted by the timid Stanley (Ben Bennett) whose ambitions revolve around the material. Her passion is instantly at loggerheads with Stanley's cautious and retiring nature. This manifests itself through Peggy's razor sharp tongue and fiercely independent streak. Clearly dissatisfied with her lot, it is little wonder that she falls for the raw, passionate Ken (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) with his bad-boy appeal.
His effect on the village is palpable, women melt and men admire him as some kind of anti-hero. Ken lives up to his new found admiration and he emerges from a mumbling, troubled cocoon into a confident, chest-bearing hero, lapping up the attention.
Joy Richardson gives a particularly fine performance as Mama Benin, the older, single woman who initially desires Ken but eventually views him in terms of his monetary value to her. Her hold over many of the men of the village is at once amusing and admirable, with her pretence to voodoo and a willingness to exercise her powers over anyone gullible enough to believe it.
Father and child relationships are explored though Mac (Danny John-Jules), the overpowering father of Ken, who eventually turns up, bloody and battered and Mikey, owner of the rum shop and Peggy's father.
The lilting rhythm's of patois, the feeling of being immersed in the heat of the Caribbean lull the audience, making Peggy's final desperate realisation all the more emotional.
Peggy: Sharon Duncan-Brewster
Stanley: Ben Bennett
Phil: Shango Baku
Jimmy: Larrington Walker
Mikey: Malcolm Frederick
Ken: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Mama Benin: Joy Richardson
Alice: Remi Wilson
Ivy: Tracey Saunders
Mac: Danny John-Jules
Director: Nicholas Kent
Set Designer: Adrianne Lobel
Costume Designer: Anna Barcock
Lighting Designer: James Farncombe
Sound Designer: Mike Thacker
2005-06-04 11:03:50