“Hannah Britland doesn’t disappoint, she is a brilliant Boo”
It is hard to imagine the horror of being caught up in Katrina, the category five hurricane that caused catastrophic damage along the gulf coast of America in 2005. Along with claiming some 2,000 lives it caused $125 billion worth of property damage as well as having a profound impact on the environment.
To do justice to the panic, horror and loss those involved must have experienced in a stage show is very difficult. However Boo Killebrew has written a play that travels through many times and places and successfully achieves that.
The Play About My Dad is an autobiographical account of her own experiences of the event along with stories of some that experienced the full force of Katrina. Running alongside these stories, which are fictionalised versions of what likely happened to them, is her reaction to the breakdown of her parent’s marriage and the subsequent reconnection with her father following his survival of the hurricane.
The two main characters are Boo herself (Hannah Britland) and her father Larry (David Schaal), a doctor called into action when the storm struck and who serves as the play’s narrator. They are performing and writing a play that tells these stories and it is an interesting vehicle that allows Boo to interact with the characters despite her having been partying in New York at the time.
We are introduced to the young Thomas family who decide not to evacuate to safer ground. Joel Lawes as Jay Thomas projects a relaxed southern approach to life and always has a positive approach to survival not necessarily shared by his wife Rena (Annabel Bates) and son Michael (T’Jai Adu-Yeboah). Also staying put is Larry’s elderly former nanny Essie Watson, played with conviction by Miquel Brown. Ammar Duffus and Nathan Welsh play two Emergency Medical Technicians and they connect and interact well every time they are on stage. There is pessimism and hope in equal measures. Juliet Cowan makes brief but impactive appearances as Sallye Killebrew.
Charlotte Espiner’s set is very basic with pallets, boxes and sheets of plywood that gives the impression of both protection and reconstruction. The lighting design from Ali Hunter is simple but effective with great use of blue under lighting to represent the incoming water and a chilling session when we listen to events in complete darkness.
The direction from Stella Powell-Jones moves the ninety minute no interval play along well ensuring attention is never lost. Elena Peña’s sound design is clever keeping the studio levels of a 175mph hurricane low, though never out of mind.
I felt the cast did everything expected of them, and rarely did I think they were acting. For the writer though, it must be difficult watching someone portray her on stage. In the playbook she writes ‘And as for the actress playing Boo, please make her really likable’. Hannah Britland doesn’t disappoint, she is a brilliant Boo.
“Highly provocative, this left people arguing in the bar long past the show ended.”
I once read that when viewing theatre you should ask two questions – ‘why this play?’ and ‘why now?’, I don’t think I have ever seen a play on the London Fringe that gives such an immediate and affirmative answer to those questions, as Dolphins and Sharks.
Set in 2014, this is the story of 5 people grounded in a Harlem copy shop where racial, economic and social tensions flicker as brightly as the light from the broken down printer. We see them struggle to maintain their hope as pressures beyond their control mount and conspire to threaten what they value most, ultimately turning on each other as they clammer to stay afloat in a sinking world.
This is an invigorating production. What is extraordinary about this play is how much it achieves in its simplicity. James Anthony Tyler’s script doesn’t try to make grandiose statements about race and society, it settles for creating characters with warmth, humour and a level of humanity that is still only rarely afforded stage time for characters of non-white origin. In doing so, the swing it takes at modern America and Western values is far more ferocious than any political agenda can manage, encompassing questions of race, class, gender and economic corruption. These characters aren’t trying to change the world, they are just trying to survive in it; playing by rules they had no hand in making and fighting odds which are stacked against them. It’s effortlessly brutal and heart-breaking, offering no easy answers and issuing a direct challenge to its audience.
The cast is exceptional. Each character is vividly drawn and played with spirit and compassion. At the heart is Shyko Amos as Isabel, a woman who still finds the strength to be kind in a world that treats her with contempt. Amos’ performance is phenomenal. We laugh with Isabel, never at her, making the realisation of how badly she has been failed a punch in the gut that left the audience gasping. As Yusuf, the innocent who tries to keep faith that he can be his own man by doing the ‘right’ thing, Ammar Duffus is compelling. Shading each crack in Yusuf’s naivety and gently switching between charm, pride and vulnerability, keeping the audience on side as his desperation becomes more apparent. Scaling the corporate ladder, Rachel Handshaw’s Xiomara is torn between ambition, loyalty and expectation. Handshaw never lets the audience lose sight of her conflict, even as her friends do.
Hermeilio Miquel Aquino’s Danilo blasts onto the stage with a blitz of energy and charisma, which only becomes more energising as the character’s enthusiasm wanes. Finally Miquel Brown anchors the show as Miss Amenze, a woman standing up against the waste of potential she sees in the youth of her community. Lydia Parker’s direction is natural and invisible, giving the actors the full scope and freedom to do these characters justice. The set design is beautiful. The soundtrack beats are pounding. This is simply a quality production, with not a hair out of place.
I can’t recommend this play highly enough. Highly provocative, this left people arguing in the bar long past the show ended. Highlighting the issues of 2014, only serves to put a more glaring lens on the problems of today. How much have we accepted on blind faith? How much do we continue to accept? To survive amongst the sharks, dolphins need to swim together. But can the dolphins take on the sharks and re-write the rule book in order to thrive? Ultimately that is the gauntlet that this play throws down and it’s a question we all need to be asking.
