MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
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Echoes of Windrush scandal in brilliant immigrant drama
KATHERINE M GRAHAM sees the revival of a play about the Jamaican experience in Britain which is acutely contemporary
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
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To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
Leave Taking
Bush Theatre, London
WINSOME PINNOCK’S Leave Taking premiered in 1987 at the Liverpool Playhouse, but watching the Bush Theatre’s production some three decades later, there’s no sense that this is a historical piece. Rather, it’s horrifically contemporary.
Early on, we hear the suggestion that, as an immigrant, you’re only legally in England “till them change them mind again.” This produces an audible gasp from an audience keenly aware of the Windrush scandal and a government that is still, 31 years later, toying with the lives of immigrant families.
This is indeed a timely production by the Bush, following closely on the heels of Arinze Kene’s Misty. It continues that play’s powerful and intelligent interrogation of English culture’s failure to listen to, and to see, the struggles of people of colour.
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