(from the previous run at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, in Spring 2023). Some actors have now left the cast.
(seen at the afternoon performance on 1st April 2023)
A few years ago, the monkey had a very interesting pre-theatre chat with a gentleman in the row behind it. The man was an ex-police officer who now worked with young men on a once-notorious, now regenerated social housing estate. The man was Black, and at the time, the ongoing murders of very young Black men was spiking particularly high.
An issue the monkey feels exceptionally strongly about, it had to ask, “why”? It thought it knew the answers – poverty, deprivation, social breakdown, marginalisation and the sheer weight of evidence that the whole issue was being ignored because it conformed to stereotype. In other words, if it were young white men, there would be loud enough outcry that the whole issue would have been resolved hundreds of deaths earlier.
The reason the man gave, however, was far deeper. It was, “these boys have never been taught self-worth, self-esteem, to value themselves. As they do not value their own lives, the lives of others are assumed to have the same lack of worth. This is the root of the problem.”
For those who visit theatremonkey.com for opinions, not lectures, the monkey isn’t apologising for the lengthy introduction to this opinion, as it is very important for what it will say next: this play fills in the missing blanks in the above answer.
Seldom has the monkey entered a theatre realising just how ignorant it was of a subject within minutes of the show starting, and left feeling so much better informed. No expertise now, but at least a beginner in where to look to start to work towards a greater understanding.
Writer Ryan Calais Cameron explains why the real young Black men of this country place so little value on the mental health which comes automatically to most people. Simply, it is taboo to talk about it within their communities.
Add to that the already existing pre-conceptions that simple “possession of a black skin” is a street-search if not arrestable offence, that Black boys who gain adult height and weight at a very young age still have their child’s mind to mould and that if their head is covered by a hoodie they are a threat; the already stacked odds against being allowed to live in peace and become the people they wish and deserve to be are ridiculously, suicidally high.
This gang of six young men come together to talk about everything in their lives, a talking therapy punctuated by dance and a little music as the thoughts take them.
The list of “trigger-warnings” displayed in the foyer beforehand is long, and at the end the audience are offered the chance of 15 minutes “safe space” to process what we have heard. The monkey suggests most will find what is said is going to stay with those seeing it for life.
Nothing is off-limits, some of it is hilariously funny, some sad, infuriating, anxiety-inducing, head-shaking in agreement or disbelief.
A guy can’t get a date and we are inside his head, a young man is going home and given a “routine” police check, someone explains how they lost their virginity so early, another the meaning of a mother’s eyes.
Both regular readers know that the monkey offers very, very, few productions this special accolade, and it awards the play it here. The cast it is honoured to name in full: Mark Akintimehin, Emmanuel Akwafo, Nnabiko Ejimofor, Darragh Hand, Aruna Jalloh, Kaine Lawrence.
On the simplest Anna Reid set, Cameron, movement director Theophilius O. Bailey, lighting designer Rory Beaton plus sound designer / composer Nicola T. Chang and musical director John Pfumojena allow six Black male voices to express, explore, captivate and educate in the space of two unforgettable hours.
Standing ovation.
