The show began with phenomenal performer Arinze Kene who is also the playwright, centre stage with a microphone in his hand; accompanied by a pianist stage right (Adrian McLeod) and a drummer (Shiloh Coke) stage left. We see the stage radiate a bright light on to Arinze who rhythmically and poetically starts flowing to the fiery melody. The musicians on beat play along to his sonnets.

His vigorous word play subconsciously re-enacts visual imagery of vivid scenes re-occurring within our society that’s familiarised to some, and sensitising to those who’s advantages prevent them from being able to emphasise. This allow them to sympathise to his audible narratives that emotionally express an enchanting variety of themes from,  repossession, gentrification, brutality, inner savagery to then financial difficulties, dysfunctional family, pain, rivalry, conviction and his daily penalty.

His spoken word obtained visual contrasts of the stigma attached to street violence and the road life. The performer metaphorically uses biology when expressing his philosophy. During the first set he makes reference to himself being a virus, while he refers to everyday people as blood cells, red and white. This conveyed that he didn’t identify himself amongst the general public. The first track performed was entitled ‘City Creature’ which contained strong emphasis of a born and bred city liver. The mention of ‘Night bus’ repetitively with increased speed, had given off a deeper sense of a tragedy happening fatally, resonated through his raged energy.

He impressively built momentum as he creatively daunted an epic picture of folks feeling anxious when in the presence of troublesome viruses, entering their way on to the Night bus. Climax is built when focusing on blood temperatures rising due to individuals hesitating in silence. He then increases the intensity where you see his irritancy, not wanting to be benevolent or see the significance until this blood cell physically receives heartless punishment.

That’s when voicemail messages played aloud on set from his friend’s Raymond and Donna are role-played by the musicians. They were stood speaking into microphones behind a booth on stage, but your attention was fixed on Arinze who had his back turned to them listening to their messages, the sound effects smartly made it seem like the sound played from his mobile. Controversial discussions arose from his friends mentioning Arinze’s story fitted in to a ‘Generic angry young blackman’ ‘Modern minstrel show’ stereotype, being a typical ‘Nigga play’, which upset him.

As he makes his way downstage we see him blow in to an orange balloon; placing it in front of him, gazing at the air gushing out, until it deflates. This represented elements in his life he ignored but was conscious of. Balloons were a consistent element appearing in the play, as well as regular meetings with a producer. In the first meeting Arinze’s back is facing the audience, however his face is reflected on to a cubical screen from a hidden camera zooming in to his face. The producer’s presence despite never being shown was strong due to inputs of voiceovers and sound bites smartly used from various movies.

Another consistency throughout the production was the presence of a little girl. Who was first seen speaking upright as Arinze’s elder sister, whilst the band played crescendo. She addresses him reading from a pulpit in a letter style; appreciating his urban gig theatre piece and congratulating him on his writing job but then criticising him for his insensitivity to the black community. Humour is brought to the stage when an assistant stage manager appears to comfort the little girl crying, due to her brother’s comical retaliation to her lecturing him about his playwright.

The entire production takes you on an emotional rollercoaster with Arinze’s desire to take his little sister to the zoo explore the pretty animals like he didn’t get to, finding out a neighbour unexpectedly had left the cultural infrastructure, feeling forced to immune to the systems renovation, feeling homesick after being kicked out from his mother’s house and not welcomed in by his uncle, injustice and terminated relationships from dislikes on the political concept of his playwright.

During the start of the second half, Arinze is heard talking from inside of an orange balloon. When he gets out of the balloon, excitedly he speaks out on his revelation. Breaking down that if viruses invade and raid the body, people like himself can’t be a virus but a blood cell to. After getting this revelation we see him pulling himself out of the balloon which indicates him no longer feeling oppressed and threatened by the system.

As Arinze performs his track ‘Geh-Geh’ he analytically talks on perceptions of gentrification simultaneously, whilst leading in to his experience of police brutality brilliantly. This was achieved by visually intensifying the flashing, lighting effects to create imagery.

During the end of the play after hearing another criticism from another friend about his culturally ridiculous playwright, we see Arinze’s mood change. Expressions on Arinze’s face become hysterical as he repeats the word to himself, stomping his feet and dancing as he performs his final track entitled ‘Jungle Shit’. The content within the song makes his character come alive, free and charismatic proclaiming his identity and breaking-down his interpretation of ‘Jungle Shit’ visualising the exact depiction using rhetorical questions to define what jungle shit really means and why the description ‘Jungle shit’ empowers him.

Misty is truly one of the most out spoken, inspirational, metaphorically excellent, comical and unique productions. Brilliantly innovative and imaginative reflecting real life precautions, live music, mediums plus many more all fused in to make it an exceptionally powerful production as himself.

Misty can be seen at Trafalgar Studios

Tanica Psalmist

Underground Railroad Game created and performed by Jennifer Kidwell and Scott R Sheppard, contains cathartic elements of sexual chemistry, physical attraction and subjective teachings on the history of the American civil war, which was played by two casts throughout the entire play. These two casts interchangeably would switch their roles; black women playing a slave owner and a white male playing a Southern farmer in the 19^th century. Who desperately wanted to help this woman he knew, situated in the racist Deep South, escape across the river where she’d be safer, this was shown during the beginning of the play. We witnessed how their intimate relationship grew during various sequences based on this element.

We then saw these casts transition in to the roles of high school teachers after a dress change. They were very immersive, smartly engaging the audience as their pupils at Hanover Middle school, in Pennsylvania. The class sessions they held as teachers were about the project we are about to conduct on the American Civil war that raged through Hanover in the summer of 1863.

Soldiers were smartly addressed throughout the play to help the audience follow the conclusion of the two sided story of the 19^th century characters. Different coloured toy soldiers of grey and blue were found underneath the chairs of the audience members, which represented the follow through in the sequences to the overview of the slaves escape from the safe-house ending either fatally, tragically or mysteriously happily.

Interestingly, the teacher’s love affair became guilt and pleasure when they made hysterically funny, direct stereotypical race jokes, whilst touching on sexual innuendo jokes at the same time to one other. This made watching their love affair funny and intriguing.

When they transitioned back into the sequence within the 19^th century, the scene was focused on explicit scenes between the slave and the white farmer’s historic intimacy, displaying the sexual image of nursemaids with their white masters. In reverse to this, arose sexual tension with the teachers through domination and humiliation.

Toxic energy kicked off further when a naughty student cheekily in the class wrote ‘niggerlover’ bold and clear, crossing out the word safe-house on a white board.

When the teachers saw this, you couldn’t hear a pin drop in the air. The open space became a playground of hate as the women began fighting with him, whilst he’s restraining her it further angered her; resulting in them aggressively trashing the set, discovering their fate. The effects of the mental state due a controversial political culture became transparent during this stage.

The male teacher in this situation instinctively felt he had to prove his feelings, which left the women re-opening her scars. The pain of her history psychologically made her sexual tension towards the guy sadomasochistic; it left us to question the impact of modern America and the world in its entirety from slavery and its left residue.

The sexual outburst in how the male teacher responded to sadism, triggered thoughts on whether the male teacher erotically expressing his love for her was genuine and sincere; or if his love was out of curiosity to satisfy his fantasy from how the black woman appears. This incident brought their love affair to an end, leaving their feelings hanging in the air. You really got a deeper sense of the systems role on the abolishment of slavery and the psychological scars left behind in this current generation, especially having the election from Obama to Trump in modern day America.

A powerful production!

Underground Railroad Game at Soho Theatre until Sat 13th October.

Tanica Psalmist.