SHIFTERS features cast members Heather Agyepong (Des) and Tosin Cole (Dre) who embark on a fierce romance that exudes intimate, passionate and delicate connection. Playwright; Benedict Lombe & director Lynette Linton sets the temperature of familiarity, similarity and technicality perfectly between these characters of shared African ethnicity & British nationality.

The tale of SHIFTERS speaks on the power of Black love rekindling, reigniting, reappearing and rewinding after time has passed & the redeemable that occurs once time has been given space to heal, grow & expand, with the possibility of creating room for further reasoning; whilst simultaneously changing the taboo on how Black actors allow themselves to become vulnerable, open and transparent within close proximity, changing the narrative on how blackness is defined and articulated intimately due to what gets commonly denied within mainstream media when it comes to the unseen portrayal of Black characters romanticising globally.

The producers of Shifters joined forces with Idris Elba, Maya Jama and Little Simz to move this unique production from the Bush theatre to the West End, their collaboration payed off swimmingly.

As this production nicely incorporates reflective elements of Ghanian & Congolese culture, with both characters enriching & powerful characteristics highlighting their distinctive rich Western African cultural discussions and interactions exploring the depths of their cultural music, Afro-beats, traditional food, sense of humour; reminiscent of traditional African movements and songs imitated through outer expression playfully capturing the deeper expansion of their chemistry and admiration of Black culture, in the midsts of them balancing talks around their personal current circumstances alongside their shared and unforgettable cherished moments together before they’d parted ways.

SHIFTERS is simply an exploration of Black love, however this time around it is told through the lens of the black man & woman’s worlds falling apart, unifying & resisting before eventually shifting into beautiful nuances whilst intrinsically tapping into each others energy & wavelength that’s personable, identifiable, relatable and adaptable bouncing off each others backgrounds, similar worlds and common play grounds from children into adults.

SHIFTERS perfectly foretells the shifting nature of love, when two become one, separate and coincidentally reconnect. Whilst silently dealing with hidden shadows that may lowkey exist within black bodies due to trauma, complexities and untapped minds creating difficulty in communicating despite wanting to be truly seen by each other irrespective of past hindrances affecting the minds state at present, keen on being understood and loved when re-examining the courage to open up to one another about underlying past pain, false pretence, multilayered by in-built personalities, revealing all when in a safe space todo so.

True humanity & acceptance is strongly themed in this play, willingly practising the power of letting go if & when necessary whether its down to contently finding love elsewhere or in transit of shifting zones where past love affairs no longer serves you by both, therefore obeying the matters of the hearts orders to move on and wish each other well before departing ways once again. Overall, SHIFTERS is a perfect description of what the nature of Black love refers, connects and amounts to both wholly and soulfully. Highly recommend!

The Perfect Show is co-produced by Improbable and ZooCo, showcasing that there are no limitations to what you can achieve. ZooCo are pioneers of exceptional accessible theatre, working with d/Deaf and disabled artists as leaders on every project as well as striving to make work that is accessible as possible to disabled audiences.

ZooCo has roots in the company being joint 2022 winners of The Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award, which supports the development of emerging theatre-makers engaged in bold, challenging and innovative performance. 

Perfect show for Rachel presents chilled & relaxed performances with ounces of creative, immersive expression that uses audience participation to capture what Rachel requested! All performances are infused with creativity from singing, live music playing, improvisation and spontaneity based off Rachel’s choices & adaptability.

The essence of the show features both live captioning and integrated accessibility for d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing audiences. Due to the improvised nature of some parts of the show, some scenes were unapologetically funny and personal in connection to the buzzers Rachel chose from to aid her choices and decision making.

It’s exciting to see how the Barbican will continue their involvement with this unique production. And how the development of how the Perfect Rachel’s show evolves to reflect Rachel’s ever-evolving artistic incentives as she takes charge of crafting her story and showcasing her creativity as you step into Rachel’s world as she creates her perfect show. 

The production runs from Fri 24 May—Sun 9 Jun 2024, more information here

(5 / 5)

For Black Boys, Written & directed by Ryan Calais executes several delicate themes within this production successfully, serving blacks boys worldwide unapologetically. Justice is performed intrinsically as the black boy experience gets relived & told through the lens of six black men, who speak on behalf of black boys prohibited from speaking their truth out of fear, incarceration, elimination or self-destruction.

This production deeply reveals roots of oblivion, shame, guilt and suppression; depicting the multiple shades & textures of black boy’s strengths, weaknesses, femininity and masculinity which inevitably get covered by layers of pain, denial, toxicity, fragility, conflicting thoughts, emotions and feelings as a response to feeling emasculated, oppressed, subjugated; as well as belittled from police brutality, high unemployment rates, pre-judgements and discrimination.

From family complications to what it means to then become the man of the house once dad walks out, especially when all your life you’ve been stigmatised, misunderstood, marginalised, disfranchised, economically stagnant and secluded. For Black Boys highlights raw truth, distasteful secrets and unshaken ancestral knowledge, depths of supreme black history to reverse disempowerment to empowerment, victory, breakthroughs, self-discipline and mastery to prevent gang affiliations, knife crime, lack of positive male influences and internal suffering leading to sorrow, despair & suicide.

Each personal experience, whether love, homosexuality, exclusion, mental health or hyper-sexuality was magically expressed through dance, freedom of expression movement and singing, belting from the depths of their soul to demonstrate liberation, vulnerability, livelihood and desire to escape judgment, to just be, to be seen and acknowledged in the midst of white supremacy and conflicting institutional spaces.

Each cast member brought to life characterisation that’s individualistic and unique, infused with variety, personality types and how being grouped to fit into one box label ‘black’ is detrimental, pressuring black boys to put on a front, suppress their emotional side and refrain from making wise decisions in the name of being a man that should act tough, insensitive, prideful & egotistical. This powerful dynamic reflected the difficulties affiliated with feeling a sense of belonging, community and purpose when you don’t fit the narrative of being black within social settings but may neatly fit into white groups until they state the obvious.

For Black Boys who have considered suicide when the hue gets too heavy takes you on rollercoaster of black boy’s highs & lows. Witnessing blackness being diminished and dehumanised leading to vulnerability to then becoming fully black conscious, fully present in this world and confidently outspoken as the foundation to a hopeful future, living with purpose, no longer just existing due to knowing you have the protection of ancestors, a legacy infused with powerful African genetics and success stories rewritten in your name if only you are willing to fight that good fight and not give up no matter how heavy your hue gets. This play touches on the significance of black boys removing the negative residue that the world had ignorantly smudged on black boys from childhood, & how irrespective of how much residue & scars visibly remain, black boys, you are and always will be special.

Highly recommended! For Black Boys will be running until June 2024.

CAST:

Tobi King Bakare, Shakeel Haakim, Fela Lufadeju, Albert Magasi, mohammed Mansaray, Poshi Morakinyo

(5 / 5)

Love Steps playing until the 20th April at Omnibus Theatre, is written, co-produced and directed by Anastasia Osei-Kuffour. The play features two cast members, Sharon Rose; who plays Anna. Anna is young, black, gifted, driven and ambitious. Reece Richards, plays multiple male prototypes and well executes the variety of qualities, traits, mixed messages and nuances woman experience from various types of men of different races, cultures and diverse backgrounds in reality as well as via online-dating.

Love Steps delves deeply into each step required to experience to eventually reach the final destination ‘Love’. Whilst simultaneously highlighting the difficulties black woman especially tend to experience in the name of pursuing, attracting and feeling desired to tap into love within England. Starting off with Hinge, the dating app designed to be deleted (as the branding states) metaphorically depicted ping gaming sound effects, as we witness Anna swiping away until she matches with a potential, however, how much potential is there when there is a match? how truthful does one need to be initially? and is asking for openness, honesty & vulnerability too much once the signs are there that you’re both into each other, willing to give the dating experience a fair shot? if so, is it the guys fault by default preventing the love petals from blossoming out of fear, anxiety, lack of emotional intelligence and subconscious detachments from femininity, feelings and fate. This play smartly sparks a lot of gentle curiosities… even once you’ve left.

Poetry was nicely incorporated throughout the play to showcase various episodes of love such as the honey moon phase, initial stages of chemistry, romantically consumed with passion, excitement, butterflies, chances, openness, shared memories, realness, affection, hope, dedication, purpose & warmth… slowly wittering away to coldness, emotional distancing, suppressed feelings, talking less, loose usage of “I love you”, loss of interest, deceit, non-confronted deception, loneliness, mixed emotions, emotional distress; leaving a woman broken, numb and hurt; all in the name of love which inevitably conflicts back to a broken heart, a heart broken from love when you never saw it coming.

Captivating expressions were revealed to manifest the underlying feelings and states women are left with and how men spiritually channel regret, pain, remorse, disrespect and oblivion to their wrongdoings through physical theatre movement, which nicely complimented the space with the dimmed lit illuminance.

Love Steps speaks volumes of how much importance females can place on relationships during adulthood. How lost the mind can get, how healing/self soothing balms and recovery steps will always be unique to an individual, & how much that stage gets overlooked forgetting it needs to be nourished frequently, valued and prioritised during and long after a break up until someone possibly captures your heart next.

There are several fundamental messages to be taken away from this play. Anna being the first generation born in the UK gave her a lot to ponder on when making comparisons on whether her feeling undesirable, unwanted and second best would be her fate back home in Africa, therefore, finding self acceptance & comfort to ground self when caught up in waves of being seen as a fetish, sexualised, objectified, an option and a non-beauty standard within western society whilst dating all types of men, is the antidote to providing true sanity, tranquility & female empowerment when recuperating from heartbreak to give love another shot!

A highly recommended play that explores many crucial themes such as cultural dynamics and variations of dating styles that people worldwide are bound to experience from all walks of life striving to search, find & intimately connect with the next chance encounter to experience love at least once in their lifetime.

The Death & life of All of Us explores themes of identity, self-judgement, sexuality, acceptance, loss, growth, transformation. Whilst touching on indifferences when born into families with long-standing cultural traditions and morally influenced cultural beliefs that no longer serve us, therefore, battling internal-conflict to rebuild identify through adaptations and changes as we navigate through our destined life path.

From video recordings projected onto three different screens set like a cubicle around the stage to a live sound mixer joined with Victor on the stage, the audience were taken into the mysterious yet curious enchanting world of Victor, who from young wanted to escape from the confinements of his politically correct world where he could feel truly liberated and be honest with himself and his loved ones without feeling guilty as a heterosexual man from both Jewish & Arab descent.

The Death & Life of us All; initiates up close and personal incentives as we dive into his world of trust, love, intimacy, family secrecy and privacy. Victor’s preserved footage documented the openly loving yet securely enclosed connection he shared with his self-disciplined great aunt Marcella, the more she shared during the short clips about her past affiliations, left you hungry and eager to know and hear more! Due to the highlights of political powers intervening due to her past love interests working in elite jobs, and harassment/stalking from officials within governmental affairs and more – we could only sympathise and emotionally connect with her to gain sufficient support & protection during the rest of her chosen secluded life.

This play explores the unknown emotional turbulences we can all experience as a result of what we are made to identify as due to cultural/traditional beliefs and upbringing, confrontation of self as we mature due to no longer wanting to identify or follow what we have been indoctrinated or conditioned into from birth. Death and life serves as a metaphor where we are consciously taken through the maze of our own lives to acknowledge the concept of our past, present and future to simultaneously remind us that time is not linear and that the past is constantly flowing into now back & fourth.

Towards the end of the play we see how Victor gets lost in dance and rhythm as the music genres Dub mixed with Lebanese traditional sounds combine. The ambience increased as Victor’s dancing became exaggerated, eventually wearing him out. How our energy can slowly deflate as we reveal our heart, release personal stories, unleash nuances and strive to maintain the newly found sequences to our much preferred routine, structure and lifestyle choices with or without our family approval.

The melody of this play is packed with Victor’s humour, sarcasm and wittiness as you simultaneously ponder the duality and the significance of death & life.

The Night Woman is directed and unapologetically performed by Julene Robinson. Embodying an electrifying, eloquent vibrancy expressed through dance, singing, live music and themes revolving around self-love, as well as the true essence of blackness navigating through life’s metaphysical journey, essentially as a black phenotype, inevitably encountering difficultly, challenging and disempowering experiences due to nuances, biases, prejudices, discrimination, lack of sovereignty and an identity crises due to a lack representation of dark pigmentation, coarse hair and society’s sensitive triggers to discomfort and negative conscious biases from foreign lands, within your own family and inner community.

Julene’s poetical and metaphorical expression of her exploration of darkness to discover inner beauty, magic, Godliness and purity, is mystical and impactful. Leaving you exploring the depths of the starry, moonlit sky using dazzling twinkling fairy lights and robes to represent tree branches, glowing in the low dim illuminance. This play speaks loud volumes of spirituality, trance and ancestral reconnection to reach places of true acceptance, embrace darkness no matter your linage or background, and to do so both internally and externally in every capacity, to avoid escapism of the fear of the unknown, due to colonial biases around darkness, distributing worldwide ignorances.

Watching Julene Robinson performing without an interval was a phenomenal experience, she’s not only an enchantingly performer who effortlessly takes audiences on a complex phenomena, but her use of characterisation in humorous and unapologetic ways to highlight the day in the life of Caribbean girls, born of a darker hue, living in the West Indies, and the general inadequacies faced by woman within the diaspora is magnifying.

The Night Woman, is an eye-opening fusion of loss, grief, femininity, unlearning to learn sequel; reflective stories told in an educative and playful way; with non-stop metaphors, depth and Jamaican humour all in one to re-live, restore, re-imagine and re-ignite all to come alive in the darkness by closing their eyes, whilst simultaneously appreciating dark skinned beauty by remembering darkness birthed light, and the gentle reminders of how life, including human life grows in the darkness where a God dwelled comfortably and humbly before colonial negative connotations of the word black and society’s conflicting interpretation, hatred and detest for darkness, dark matter and the night woman that birthed light lovingly.