THIS NEW production of ‘Small Island’ is a collaboration between the Birmingham Rep, Leeds Playhouse and Nottingham Playhouse. It is a unique trilogy – not just because they are three of the finest producers of original theatre in the UK, but because they are all the in cities which are at the heart of ‘Windrush’ history.
That said, this adaptation by Helen Edmundson of the classic novel by Andrea Levy may be historical but is also highly relevant today. Sadly, driving into Birmingham was like running a gauntlet in places where innocent lampposts have become mock gallows saluting racism, not patriotism, with their abuse and misuse of our national flags.
Director Mathew Xia’s production is long at well over three hours, but so epic is the journey he takes us on that it’s difficult to see where it could be shortened – and nor would I want it to be, for every moment is unmissable.
Simon Kenny’s set design is a masterclass in giving legs to our imagination. At the heart is a large central platform, big enough to create the vibrancy of life in late 1930s Jamaica and a claustrophobic 1940s London. Outside of this raised space, characters drift in from the shadows and seamlessly join the action. A movie screen also flies in and out giving us Pathe Movietone-style black and white news complete with ‘gung-ho’ voice.
Marcia Mantack, Everal A Walsh, Jordan Laviniere, Anna Crichlow and Mara Allen in Small Island. Picture by Pamela Raith Photography
Act One opens in the preamble of an approaching hurricane which, when it arrives, projects us into a fast-moving and complex storyline of lives interwoven across thousands of miles and cultures. This is the quaint, small island of Jamaica where society is blissfully naive about the world outside and an England where immigrants are mostly greeted with disrespect and hostility.
It’s where we first meet our two main black principals – trainee schoolteacher Hortense (Anne Critchlow) and smart and ambitious Gilbert (Daniel Ward) who has dreams of going to England, that other ‘small island’ and becoming a lawyer. When war breaks out, he eagerly volunteers to join the RAF and gets stationed in Lincolnshire where his skills are underused and restricted to manual work.
Jordan Laviniere (Little Michael) and Anna Crichlow (Hortense). Picture by Pamela Raith Photography
At the end of the war, Gilbert is repatriated to Jamaica. Still dreaming that his destiny lies in England he makes a deal to marry Hortense if she pays his fare to board the Empire Windrush, agreeing to send for her in a few months.
Critchlow and Ward are both excellent – Critchlow captures the aloofness and often hilarious expectations of Hortense and Ward’s Gilbert is witty, intelligent and resilient.
The other two main protagonists are white: Queenie (Bronte Barbe) and Bernard (Mark Arends). Like Hortense and Gilbert, they are not married for love, but convenience. Bernard uses the war as an excuse to escape away to a new life, only coming back reluctantly well after the war has ended when Queenie believed him dead somewhere in Asia.
Phil Yarrow (Mr Buxton). Picture by Pamela Raith Photography
Barbe seizes the fragility and passion of Queenie, giving her a rebellious depth under a shallow surface. Likewise, Arends perfectly encapsulates the hypocrisy and bigotry of Bernard.
In Act Two the platform cleverly revolves between Queenie’s lounge and the sparsely furnished upstairs room Bernard and Hortense rent from her. The storyline becomes darker with the cruel and relentless tirades of racism weighing heavily on players and audience alike. Yet there are still plenty of moments of comedy with clever dialogue beating narrow-mindedness most times. I was taken particularly how Xia has a character halting the action by breaking the fourth wall and telling us what happened at a certain key moment. This tantalisingly has us glued to the re-enactment vignettes that follow.
Mark Arends (Bernard) .Picture by Pamela Raith Photography
This Small Island is a compulsive and moving piece of theatre, with powerful performances from every member of this strong company. You’ll laugh your socks off, audibly suck your breath in, more than likely shed a tear or two and go home buzzing, feeling hope, not hate.
Small Island is at the Birmingham Rep until April 18. Click here for times, tickets and more information.
