PLAYBOY OF THE WEST INDIES. To 12 February.
London/Nottingham
PLAYBOY OF THE WEST INDIES
by Mustapha Matura
Tricycle Theatre To 22 January 2005
Mon-Sat 8pm Mat Sat + 29, 31 Dec 4pm; 15,22,24 Dec5,19 Jan 2pm no performance 25-28 Dec, 3 Jan; no 8pm performance 24,31 Dec
BSL Signed 6 Jan
Curry Night 21 Jan
then Nottingham Playhouse 28 January-12 February
Tue-Sat 7.45pm Mat 5 Feb 2.30pm & 10 Feb 1.30pm (+ Page to Stage at 10.30am)
Audio-described 8,9 Feb
Post-show Talk 8 Feb
Runs 2hr 25min One interval
TICKETS: 020 7328 1000
www.tricycle.co.uk (Tricycle)
0115 941 9419
www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk (Nottingham)
Review: Timothy Ramsden 8 December
From Mayo to Mayaro, a shining transplant.Kilburn's Tricycle Theatre, focusing on work for its Black and Irish communities, scores a double-hit in reviving Mustapha Matura's transplant of J M Synge from rural Ireland c1907 to mid-century Trinidad. First seen 20 years ago (and revived at the Trike 10 years after: pattern or tradition?) it retains its comic energy with the latest generation of British Black actors at least as strong as their predecessors.
Being unkind, you could say Matura made a good play out of a great one. But if he doesn't achieve the poetic intensity of Synge's language, he has its breadth; contrast young Peggy dreaming of a happier life with the fascinating patricide who comes to her father's tavern against the forthrightness of the experienced Mama Benin.
As Matura says, English colonialism links Ireland and Trinidad; Peggy's scorn for her witless suitor Stanley (a gangling, awkward Ben Bennett) is expressed by calling him an English gentleman. Fussing with collar and tie, he's a contrast to the blood and magic' she finds in Ken, proudly bare-chested as he throws down his new shirt in defiant rejection of the fickle villagers.
Though politics make occasional appearances, the action mainly shows life bursting through the stifling forces of age, conformity and self-interest. Mama Benin might be a fleshy force initially trying to inveigle Ken into her bed, but once she gives up physical proximity (and despite her reputation for magic) she's out for the best material bargain she can win from him. There's a watchful as well as a wilful side to Joy Richardson's performance.
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's Ken grows from fearful fugitive with an awesome new reputation through boastful exploitation of his one dread act to spine-erect, smiling confidence just as the public-opinion tide is turning.
Add Ken's nervously impressed 2-person teenage fan club from Remi Wilson and Tracey Saunders (clutching her dress while eagerly talking to Ken), forceful male parents in Malcolm Frederick and Danny John-Jules, all on Adrianne Lobel's colourful shack-set (suggesting Mikey and his drinking companions' laid-back lifestyle), and Nicolas Kent's production is as bright a spot as you could wish in midwinter.
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: Nicolas Kent
Designer: Adrianne Lobel
Lighting: James Farncombe
Sound: Mike Thacker
Costume: Anna Barcock
Assistant director: Jonathan Man
2004-12-09 06:54:23