THESE FOUR STREETS. To 28 February.
Birmingham.
THESE FOUR STREETS
by Naylah Ahmed, Sonali Bhattacharyya, Jennifer Farmer, Lorna French, Amber Lone and Cheryl Akila Payne.
Birmingham Repertory Theatre (The Door) To 28 February 2009.
Tue-Sat 7pm Mat 21, 24, 26, 27 Feb 1.30pm.
Runs: 1hr 20min No interval.Start: 7.00 pm. (Matinees 13.30)
TICKETS: 0121 236 4455.
www.birmingham-rep.co.uk
Review: Jan Pick: 16 February.
Careless talk costs lives.
Based on the riots erupting in the Lozells area of Birmingham in 2005, These Four Streets tells the story of an area splintered by an unsubstantiated rumour. The report of a gang rape in the disparate community inflames the underlying tensions between the different racial groups which normally exist in apparent harmony. As the troubles escalate the six writers explore the effects on the various members of the community and their shock at the unexpected violence and distrust emerging on their formerly quiet streets, with skill and humour. The play traces the events from the initial rumour, through the escalating violence, to the culminating tragedy, concluding by demonstrating the courage and tenacity of the area’s inhabitants in their attempts to patch up their self-inflicted wounds.
It's played on a simple, but flexible set, comprising chairs and a table - in turn we visit a taxi firm, a hairdressing salon and various houses amongst the racially mixed community of Lozells.
Five actors create the characters living and working in the four streets of the play and it is difficult amongst such a strong ensemble to pick out specific performances; each actor has many cameos that stand out as moments of truth in the narrative. Among them are Janice McKenzie’s nervous telephone operator in the taxi cab firm, dealing with unexpected sympathy and courage with the distraught father - an excellent performance from Inam Mirza - in search of his missing daughter, and Elexi Walker in her roles as a stroppy teenager, suddenly confronted with the consequences of her actions, and a concerned mum, worrying about her teenage son.
Lorna Laidlaw and Bharti Patel turn in a beautifully observed and dryly witty double act of two old ladies, Caribbean and Asian, who find common ground in their loneliness and worries, and Matthew James-Brown a quietly humorous yet deeply moving elegy to his best friend. Together the actors convincingly stitch together the patchwork of lives and relationships which make up the human face of the four streets of the play.
The evening lasted 80 minutes, but the message, hopefully, will linger. Careless talk can, indeed, cost lives.
Cast:
Matthew James-Brown, Lorna Laidlaw, Janice McKenzie, Inam Mirza, Bharti Patel, Elexi Walker.
Director: Gwenda Hughes.
Designer: Michael Holt.
Lighting: Simon Bond.
2009-02-18 01:53:15