★★★

“Adrian Decosta plays a stellar Martin Luther King”

The Life and Death of Martin Luther King by Paul Stebbings feels like an epic play forced into an intimate space. As the title suggests, it follows Martin Luther King’s life, from his first speech to lead and inspire the civil rights movement in Alabama. Overall, the play succeeds in telling King’s story – as much as can be covered in 90 minutes – but it suffers from the confines of its space and consequently questionable directing choices.

The play opens in silence with singular actor Toara Bankole entering the stage to sing. This was the start of a pattern of blocking which did not consider the full thrust staging. Throughout the show, I was purely witnessing the back of actors and had barely any moments to indulge in their faces and emotions. Two thirds of the audience were isolated from the action, in spite of being so close to the actual stage. The Golden Goose is very intimate and manages to hold a lot of the sound in the space. As a result it felt like the performers were shouting. Naturally, the play’s content gives way to the kind of vocal projection fit for outdoor crowds of hundreds. But even the scenes where this wasn’t the case, it felt like the actors were told to over project and this generally made the viewing experience uncomfortable. There was also one moment in the play where real metal chains were used in a movement sequence. The chains were repeatedly thrown around and dropped on the floor. The highly irritating, loud noise of these chains made the room wince, removing any awe inspiring effect intended.

From what I could see, the acting performances were pretty solid. Toara Bankole carries the show throughout. Formally only credited as Coretta King and Rosa Parks, she actually multi roles as an incredible number of characters – and she has at least six different dresses and costume changes to show for it. Her performances are subtle and touching, letting the audience into the life of her characters safely – fitting the intimate setting. Adrian Decosta (also the director) plays a stellar Martin Luther King, down to his voice emulating King accurately. It’s very hard to direct a play you’re also in, let alone starring in where you’re practically in every scene. The reason being, you don’t know how you actually look or sound on stage and can lack objectivity.

One of the biggest themes is of course race and racism. This can be a tricky subject but can – and should – be talked about well in theatre, when done with care. To portray the racist attitudes of people at the time, with a majority black cast, the actors wore white masks to portray white people. I thought this was clever, and an easy way for the cast to multi-role without difficulty. However, there were points when the one white actor in the cast wore a black mask to portray a black person. Simply due to the connotations, this did make me feel uncomfortable. There are a lot of openly racist actions and language used throughout the performance, which do portray the horrible reality of the time and so will of course feel uneasy and won’t be an enjoyable watch. However, I think some use of racist language from certain actors was used for shock value and didn’t necessarily contribute to the story.

To conclude, I think the play serves as a great educational piece, and an introduction to Martin Luther King for those who may not know of his legacy. However, it suffers from being an epic play in an intimate space – with potential to be greater on a larger, end-on stage.

CYRANO

Park Theatre

★★★

“an exciting adaptation of a classic text that leaves the audience wanting more”

Before the start of Virginia Gay’s adaptation of Cyrano, the cast travel around the audience handing out poetry. A testament to the play’s dedication to words. By Cyrano’s own admission, such words should be at the forefront. However, with the use of an ever present meta-like Chorus and a somewhat self aware lead, the play felt like a study guide rather than an anthology. The story and characters were constantly being analysed and commented on as devices and functions rather than purely experiencing the world as people. The result was a simple story with an easy enough plot being complicated by its over intellectualization of itself.

Cyrano (Virginia Gay) is a local smart person, with a way with words and an unfortunately large nose. A nose so terrible that she believes she is incapable of love. They quickly meet Roxanne (Jessica Whitehurst): a beautiful yet shallow woman who has a huge crush on gorgeous yet wordless Yan (Joseph Evans). Roxanne is dissatisfied by Yan’s lack of ability to communicate meaningfully with her, which Cyrano pities. Therefore, Cyrano steps in to assist Yan by doing the talking for him. The original Cyrano is a classic text, however, not one that I’ve personally ever read or seen. This version assumes you already know the story, opening with the Chorus (Tessa Wong, David Tarkenter, Tanvi Virmani) trying to define its genre and making references which I was honestly quite confused by. If the point of modern adaptations is partly to make such classic texts more accessible then this didn’t help.

The Chorus continues to comment on the narrative throughout the play. This is of course traditional of this role, yet it did feel like the audience was being told how to feel. Points where we were told the scene is sad, for example, rather than the characters simply experiencing sadness. What saves us from this being a constant theme throughout was Virginia Gay’s performance as Cyrano. Her solo moments on stage were incredibly warm and personal, making you feel as if you were right next to her as she confessed her inner life. Other stand outs include Chorus member 2, David Tarkenter, who adds depth to his portrayal of comic relief and context delivery by giving a sense of real personal stake within the story. A very appreciated addition to the Chorus that would otherwise make the stage feel overcrowded with exposition and one liners.

This adaptation changes the ending of the story. I was made aware of this as the characters state what happens in the original. It instead concludes by an attempt to make amends. This culminates in Roxanne stating one conclusion and then very quickly changing her mind. With ten minutes of run time to spare and the need for a happy ending, deus ex machina is applied yet unfortunately lacks any punch. It was times like this in the play I deeply wished for more of the poetry that Gay uses singularly for Cyrano, to also be truly exploited for the dialogue.

The set (Amanda Stoodley) was minimal, using a mirror, three stage blocks, a spiral staircase and a piano. The floor was painted white with many markings, presumably for the movement of the set. Costume (Stoodley) was modern and reflected a sense of each character. Cyrano wears jeans, boots and a shirt which favours practicality over beauty. Roxanne wears satin red joggers and a decorated satin jacket – comfortable yet glamorous in style.

Lighting (Andy Purves) and Sound (Toby Young) were very effective in driving the piece. Moments of intimacy were heightened by gentle fades of light focused centre stage and moments of silence contracted well with the business of ensemble scenes. Dance breaks were also dotted around throughout with classic disco songs, paired with colour washes and the occasional smoke machine.

Overall, an exciting adaptation of a classic text that leaves the audience wanting more. Unfortunately I fear what they may want more of is substance.

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MARTIN LUTHER KING

Golden Goose Theatre

★★★

“Adrian Decosta plays a stellar Martin Luther King”

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MARTIN LUTHER KING

Golden Goose Theatre

Reviewed on 3rd January 2025

by David Robinson

Photography by Katja Piolka

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MARTIN LUTHER KING

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MARTIN LUTHER KING

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MARTIN LUTHER KING

CYRANO

Park Theatre

★★★

“an exciting adaptation of a classic text that leaves the audience wanting more”

CYRANO

Park Theatre

Reviewed on 17th December 2024

by David Robinson

Photography by Craig Sugden

Previously reviewed at this venue:

CYRANO

CYRANO

CYRANO