It is becoming that an adaptation of Floella Benjamin’s memoir of her girlhood ought to encapsulate the spirit of kids’s tv. In any case, it was Play College that made Benjamin a family identify within the Nineteen Eighties. This musical weaves misty-eyed flashbacks to that sequence – iconic traces, collective singing and clap-alongs – with a narrative of Britain’s Windrush-era racism from a toddler’s perspective.
However there's a nice chunk of story that feels lacking, for adults, at the very least. Tailored by David Wooden and directed by Omar F Okai, the play circles across the early years however we by no means find out how Benjamin rose, so singularly, to develop into the face of kids’s TV in an period of open racial hostility and little range on display screen.
It's all the extra disappointing as a result of the present begins and ends in maturity when Floella (Paula Kay), now Woman Benjamin of Beckenham, is awarded the Freedom of the Metropolis of London honour in 2018. This framing guarantees that the dots will probably be joined, however the story doesn't take within the full arc of Benjamin’s journey. We're merely informed that she appeared on Play College for “12 glad years”, not how she received there or the hurdles she overcame.
As a substitute, the play revolves round early girlhood, first residing with 5 siblings in Trinidad after which 15 months in foster care whereas her dad and mom, Marmie (Bree Smith) and Dardie (Kojo Kamara) travelled to London to arrange house for his or her youngsters. Benjamin is raised on postwar mythologies of the mom nation’s greatness, so she is shocked by the abject each day racism when she arrives in London aged 10. It's attention-grabbing to see Windrush-era expertise from a toddler’s standpoint, each within the “brainwashed” schooling Benjamin receives in Trinidad (British historical past is taught with no point out of slavery) and her alienation in England, not least her shock when she is informed the household should dwell in a single room. However this second, together with others, feels brisk and undetailed, not practically as highly effective because the shock Hortense feels in an identical occasion within the Nationwide Theatre’s revival of Small Island.
The drama lacks emotional depth and texture as a complete; Benjamin is informed to return house and sometimes sees indicators in home windows stating: “No canine, no Irish, no coloureds” however none of those moments are developed or really feel particular sufficient, although they may likely educate a youthful viewers.
There's a beautiful calypso vibe to a number of the music and the forged have ready singing voices however the choreography appears to be like rudimentary and unremarkable. The songs are carried out effectively sufficient however come to really feel sleepy in vitality, the actors usually static as they sing, and so they appear to be padding out the restricted story; by the tip of over two hours, Benjamin remains to be solely at college, elaborating on faculty dinners, and the drama looks like it's dragging its toes.
Bretta Gerecke’s set design feels oddly empty too. A skeletal construction representing the household home in Trinidad is wheeled on and off stage. A again display screen has swirls of adjusting color which doesn't add to the story in a significant approach and vague shapes hold in a mystifying cell overhead: they could possibly be rocks, molten clouds or items of coal.
Grownup actors play Floella’s 5 younger siblings and whereas Kay, as Floella, offers a profitable efficiency, the others appear jarring and contrived of their components, wearing lengthy shorts and frocks.
There's a remodeling second when Benjamin turns away from anger and embraces positivity in response to race hate, however this is available in a closely message-bound ending. There are occasional invites for viewers participation – we sing “When you’re glad and you already know it” and we stamp our toes. This brings enjoyable for youths and nostalgia for adults however it's not sufficient to energy the drama on. What is required is larger tempo, deeper emotion, extra element and rather more story.
Coming to England is at Birmingham Rep till 16 April.
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