Princess and the Hustler
Bristol Old Vic

EIGHT years after the anti-segregation Montgomery bus boycott in the US, the West Country saw its own boycott of Bristol Omnibus Company vehicles at their refusal to employ black or Asian crews.

The action lasted four months and is credited with influencing the Race Relations Act of 1965. A momentous moment but Chinonyerem Odimba’s naturalistic play Princess and the Hustler, set in this time of growing political awareness and activity, loses its way somewhat in the domestic drama of a poor, estranged West Indian couple and their children.

In it, Mavis — played with passion and sensitivity by Donna Berlin — is struggling to bring up her two children righteously and to hold on to their dreams. Ten-year-old Princess (Kudzai Sitima) wants to win the Weston-Super-Mare beauty pageant while her older brother Junior (Fode Simbo) is holding down several part-time jobs to fund his apprenticeship as a photographer.

Both their aspirations, and their mother’s stoical acceptance of her life, are threatened by the return of Mavis’s husband, Wendell. When Sheun Shote’s unreliable former soldier-turned-hustler descends on his wife’s small flat with his “half-caste” daughter, values and certainties are thrown into question.

The protest against the colour bar reshapes the family’s identity both between themselves and within the wider community but much of this is watered down by somewhat insipid, soap-opera style dialogue and predictable characterisations.

Dawn Walton’s direction, with an overlong introduction to an impoverished family Christmas, lacks inspiration but matters pick up after the interval as political issues temporarily take centre stage.

This time of local politicisation is a worthy theme for any drama, which may well tighten and gain greater impact as it tours. But Eclipse Theatre Company’s latest offering needs more bite and originality to remain memorable.

Tours until April 13, details: eclipsetheatre.org.uk