★★★★

“a subtle and quiet portrayal of people who feel real and vivid”

Not a lot happens in this play but that’s the crux of its genius. It elevates the everyday. It’s about everything and nothing.

Written in 2014 and first performed in New York in 2016, Skeleton Crew follows four workers in a car manufacturing plant in Detroit. A foreman and three floor workers. As their jobs are threatened, the quiet day to day of their lives unravel, with each facing the uncertainty of their future.

Watching the steady and inevitable disintegration of this department sounds bleak. Somehow, it’s not. The humanity and quiet kindness in these characters gives the audience hope. As the story slowly unfurls, it remains compelling and strangely optimistic.

Dominique Morrisseau’s script is tight. Each line oozes with character. Dancing between philosophy and banter, the dialogue snaps and sizzles. And she knows when to hold back. There’s power in what isn’t said. Matthew Xia leans into that silence in his direction. There are moments of stillness, of pause. Watching people get ready for work, alone, tells you so much about them.

Many of these moments are not silent, just without dialogue. Nicola T Chang’s carefully crafted sound design gives each character a soundtrack, quietly signalling whose story will be the focus of each scene. From Aretha to J Dilla, to the sound of the fridge whirring, this attention to detail makes the world, and the characters, feel more vibrant.

All of the performances are strong – especially from newcomer Branden Cook. However all eyes were glued to Pamela Nomvete in a remarkable performance as the jaded mother hen Faye.

Ultz was the show’s designer, and perhaps undelivered a little. The set was naturalistic – a break room – but each scene was intercut with the clanking of shadowy machinery, an illusion assisted by Ciarán Cunningham’s lighting design. There was a moment of pyrotechnics, which was exciting, but felt a little out of place. For a designer with such an impressive track record, this isn’t Ultz’s best work.

Don’t come to this show expecting surprising plot twists, or a fresh political take. But come for the beauty in a subtle and quiet portrayal of people who feel real and vivid.

FOR BLACK BOYS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE HUE GETS TOO HEAVY at the Garrick Theatre

★★★★

“a beautifully poetic and bold piece of theatre”

For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy, takes your brain and your heart. It is a rollercoaster party for all, as Ryan Calais Cameron’s award-winning production returns to the West End for a limited season.

Starring in the now iconic roles in this new production of FBB, are a powerful new blend of talented actors: Tobi King Bakare (Onyx), Shakeel Haakim (Pitch) making his professional debut, Fela Lufadeju (Jet), Albert Magashi (Sable), Mohammed Mansaray (Obsidian) and Posi Morakinyo (Midnight). The cast of six young Black men are all in sync with each other and shine with their own identities and characters, with laugh out loud humour and exposed vulnerability.

It makes for a beautifully poetic and bold piece of theatre.

The show opens with a stunning piece of slow motion movement which then explodes with the colourful individual characters telling their stories of the beauty and burden of being black – and just being a human. This is a story of manhood and masculinity in Black Britain today, flowing through dance, monologues and music.

We meet the six young men in what appears to be a safe space therapy group telling their bravura stories about father figures or lack of, and macho sex. They are all about “how to be the right type of Black man” showing power and strength. But we also see snippets of their childhoods when they were bullied or not chased by the girls in kiss chase – because of the colour of their skin. They are visceral, and the aggressive and powerful choreography by Theophilus O. Bailey, shows the perception of angry young Black men, and how they articulate themselves when words fail them.

In act two, the set designed by Anna Reid, opens up into a fantasy fluorescent playground where the men feel safe to tell their truths with pain and honesty. The choreography softens but is equally as powerful. Self-aware and touchingly naïve, they talk poetically of their mothers’ eyes, their need for love, love found and love lost, abuse, peer pressure and sexuality….. as they each expose their raw vulnerability.

And that’s when they start to sing. As their trust grows their harmonies soar, as they show tenderness and emotion towards each other. Together these men are electric.

FBB is a stunningly slick show directed by the writer Ryan Calais Cameron, with music and sound by Nicola T. Chang.

In Cameron’s, For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy, the message to those who have considered suicide is to learn to love yourself – and breathe. It is a very current and universal story – young men and mental health. It is about all young men who have considered suicide.

Tag Archives: Nicola T Chang

SKELETON CREW

★★★★

Donmar Warehouse

SKELETON CREW at the Donmar Warehouse

★★★★

“a subtle and quiet portrayal of people who feel real and vivid”

SKELETON CREW at the Donmar Warehouse

Reviewed on 6th July 2024

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Helen Murray

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE HUMAN BODY | ★★★ | February 2024

LOVE AND OTHER ACTS OF VIOLENCE | ★★★★ | October 2021

SKELETON CREW

SKELETON CREW

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

FOR BLACK BOYS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE HUE GETS TOO HEAVY

★★★★

Garrick Theatre

FOR BLACK BOYS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE HUE GETS TOO HEAVY at the Garrick Theatre

★★★★

“a beautifully poetic and bold piece of theatre”