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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Elmina’s Kitchen
Verdict: Absorbing and vital theatre
London - Garrick Theatre
- 20 Apr – 20 Aug+ 05 – 20:00
Hauntingly beautiful Caribbean music (played live by prominent musicians, Juldeh Camara and Atongo Zimba) greets an enthusiastic audience for this revival of Kwame Kwei-Armah’s award winning play, Elmina’s Kitchen.
Elmina’s Kitchen is set in a run-down West Indian café in Hackney. A green illuminated sign dominates - reversed to suggest a view from outside in. The set creates a meticulously naturalistic refuge coated in straw-coloured lighting. On the back wall hangs a gallery of figures; the most prominent is Elmina, the dead mother of Deli (Kwame Kwei-Armah). Black doors invade the performance-space and lead to the gun-crime streets of murder mile.
Here begins the tale of Deli’s struggle not only to make the café a success, but to protect his wayward son, Ashley - a gentle, persuasive performance of a young lad trying to belong from Michael Obiora - from crime.
Ashley skips college, hankers for a BMW and courts respect from local Yardie gangster Digger - a performance of rare brilliance from Shaun Parkes. Digger inhabits the café with a threatening and imposing presence.
Anastasia (Doña Croll) arrives looking for work. She brings her own dish of macaroni cheese to impress. Deli sets out to clean up and improve his café, to turn it into a fast-food outlet. When it’s time for the launch of the new restaurant, the set transforms to a smart candlelit environment with a new sign - Plantain Hut. Digger feels alienated from his culture.
Deli’s father, Clifton (Don Warrington) arrives. So does his old friend Baygee - a wonderful comic performance from Oscar James. The three generations play out their funny, tragic lives with devastating consequences.
Elmina’s Kitchen is not simply a warning about the increasing rate of gun crime, but also black-on-black violence. The badge of blackness in Deli’s world is earned through the façade of criminality. The pressure on young black males to live up to stereotypes forces Ashley to become an informant for Digger – with appalling consequences. It is a stark warning about the kind of character needed to overcome circumstances and seeming cultural inheritance.
Kwame Kwei-Armah gives a confident, if somewhat theatrically shy portrayal of Deli. He evokes a father who endeavours to instil in his son his cultural heritage and values. But it’s in a world where black youths are excluded from school three times as often as their white counterparts; where two thirds of black boys leave school without proper qualifications; where one in four black males under the age of 25 are unemployed.
For Kwame Kwei-Armah as the writer, culture begins today. If simply by asking what the solution is, this gifted playwright provides the tools to change society for the better.
Cast Credits: (alpha order): Anastasia – Doña Croll. Baygee – Oscar James. Deli – Kwame Kwei-Armah. Ashley – Michael Obiora. Digger – Shaun Parkes. Clifton – Don Warrington.
Company Credits:
Bill Kenwright, Jenny King & Matthew Gale present the National Theatre & Birmingham Repertory Company's production of Elmina's Kitchen. Musicians – Juldeh Camara, Atongo Zimba. Writer – Kwame Kwei-Armah. Director – Angus Jackson. Designer – Bunny Christie. Lighting Designer – Hartley TA Kemp. Music - Juldeh Camara, Atongo Zimba. Sound Designer - Neil Alexander. Associate Lighting Designer - Richard Williamson. Fight Director – Terry King. Casting – Gabrielle Dawes. Stage Manager – Jon Swain. Deputy Stage Manager – Charlotte Hall. Assistant Stage Manager – James Potter. Wardrobe Mistress – Amanda Amielle. Understudies – Donna Berlin, John Adewole, Gary Lawrence. PR – Kim Morgan. Producer - Bill Kenwright, Jenny King & Matthew Gale.
END
(c) Mike Miller 2005
reviewed 26 April 2005 / Garrick Theatre
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
