MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
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Little Baby Jesus, Orange Tree Theatre Richmond
Early work by Arinze Kene disappoints
PIC CAP Excelling: The cast of Little Baby Jesus Pic: Ali Wright
New releases from Steve Knightley, Jupiter & Okwess, Jason Palmer, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Driver, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey, Dan Sealey, Simin Tande, PAZ
JOHN GREEN relishes photography that unfolds a longstanding and poetic relationship with Leeds
A uncomfortably misogynistic authorial voice that sometimes seems to lack insight troubles FIONA O’CONNOR
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production that panders – if inadvertently – to Western prejudice against China
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a history that excavates the enormous role played by agricultural workers in recent times
ALEX HALL recommends a book that places empirical evidence at the heart of understanding racism
ALTHOUGH the award-winning Misty was Arinze Kene’s fifth professionally staged play in a remarkable career for someone aged just 32, it felt like a breakthrough moment for him when it burst — quite literally — onto the stage of London’s Bush Theatre last spring.
Its raw power may have been the catalyst for Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu’s decision to direct Kene’s 2011 play Little Baby Jesus. Sadly, it’s a bad choice.
A pulsating nostalgia trip of a first half yanks the audience into the world of three North London teenagers, Kehinde (Anyebe Godwin), Joanne (Rachel Nwokoro) and Rugrat (Khai Shaw). It’s one in which adolescent angst, bravado and unfiltered piss-taking contrasts with intricate racial prejudices and the mental health issues of multiple family members.
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