Tag Archives: Whitney Kehinde

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“Little Brother” at Jermyn Street Theatre

It would be a touch perverse, and thankfully difficult, to be uncharitable towards this new play. Based on the memoir by Ibrahima Balde and Amets Arzallus Antia, it tells the story of the former’s journey from Guinea to Europe. In contrast to the tendency to abstract and politicise the topic of immigration, this is a simple story showing life’s unexpected turns at a personal level.

Balde never intended to be an immigrant. His motivation is to search for his little brother, his journey even more shocking and dangerous than you might expect. Balde and Antia provide poetry, but the achievement in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s adaptation is to maintain an air of unvarnished truthfulness. The account is more than a documentary but it has a stark authenticity that makes belief unquestionable. 

Director Stella Powell-Jones does a great job of bringing a story that covers so much time and space to the small stage of Jermyn Street Theatre. There are no fancy touches – they’d seem out of place – just a strong cast and subtle sounds from Falle Noike and Max Peppenheim. The performances are led by Blair Gyabaah, who barely leaves the stage for the 90-minute duration and is supported by Youness Bouzinab, Ivan Oyik, Mo Sesay and Whitney Kehinde, who take on the roles of everyone Balde meets. Kehinde works particularly hard as every woman and has many powerful scenes. For my taste, too much effort is taken to distinguish these different people (with costumes and characteristics) when it is what they do that seems to be the point here. Still, Powell-Jones generates considerable tension as we wonder how each will treat Balde, guessing or dreading whether their response will be good or bad.

Much of the journey is as grim as it gets. Balde is homeless, kidnapped, tortured and literally sold. The trauma from events is described articulately without being dwelt upon. And there is also a lightness to the show that is remarkable. The script, and Gyabaah, expertly tread a fine line, showing an acceptance of events without a resignation about them. Throughout, it is emphasised that the people met are like you and me, drawing the audience in and quietly interrogating us. And a lot the encounters are good. The acts of kindness, big and small, begrudging or unquestioned, pepper the journey. Charity is the key… and the challenge presented.

Until 21 June 2025

www.jermystreettheatre.co.uk

Photos by Steve Gregson

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“Outlying Islands” at the Jermyn Street Theatre

David Greig’s 2002 play is a must-see. Firstly, because it is, very simply, wonderfully written. The story is simple, too, with a couple of ornithologists working in a remote location. But the play itself is richly complex – full of surprises I don’t want to spoil – with startling questions and big ideas.

This production boasts an expert crew. Director Jessica Lazar has worked on the play before, along with designers Anna Lewis, David Doyle, Christopher Preece and movement director Jennifer Fletcher, whose work all matches the elegance of the source material. Their experience shows, but Lazar’s approach remains fresh, bringing out humour and environmental concerns with extra force. This is a script that’s aging very well indeed.

A good deal of tension is fleshed out, primarily with the character of Robert and his fraught take on life. He’s a fantastic creation, brought to life by Bruce Langley. The dialogue is full of nerves and analysis, descriptions of the body that are, themselves, dissected. It’s a surprise how uncomfortable his scientific sense make us – Robert is blunt, “perpetually insulting” and a maverick. Langley gives him schoolboy charm, but is he dangerous, too?

Whitney-Kehinde-in-Outlying-Islands-by-Alex-Brenner
Whitney Kehinde

Robert is certainly captivating. Ellen, one of only two inhabitants on the island, falls for him. And she is Greig’s second brilliant portrait, one that Whitney Kehinde performs in all its complexity. The young woman’s vivid fantasy life connects to themes of technology – she’s an avid cinema-goer – but the steps she takes to realise her desires are startling. Living “in and out of dreams”, Kehinde powerfully combines the mystical and animalistic.

Robert’s friend and colleague John completes a triangle. A difficult role that newly graduated Fred Woodley Evans manages to make more than a foil. It’s John who remembers that a boat is coming to take them back to society. But talk of ‘decency’ becomes increasingly shrill as the play builds to its tense conclusion. How much the audience identifies with John is left open, just as it should be.

None of this considers the considerable humour in the play. A final brilliant performance comes from Kevin McMonagle as Ellen’s uncle, whose description of London as a gannetry s laugh-out-loud funny. Just as remarkable is how Outlying Islands is a ‘period’ play, set just before World War II, whose advent is explored, but with none of the usual clichés. Lazar’s triumph is to appreciate that a piece this good will never have a definitive version. Greig’s work is observed by her, interpretations are made, but it is clear that there will always be more to offer.

Until 15 March 2025

www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk

Photos by Alex Brenner