The Finborough Theatre can always be relied on to present something just that little bit different, and, in the case of Burnt-Up Love, something very different, as well as powerful.
Ché Walker has not only written this seventy-minute piece of theatre, he also acts in it and directs it. A recipe for disaster? By no means! It is beautifully, poetically written in a series of monologues or soliloquies as well as duologues and is quite hypnotic in its effect. Here is someone who can experiment with the form of a play whilst at the same making it totally involving for an audience: someone who is also willing to experiment with the way a play is staged, getting the audience to work, yet at the same time making it clear as crystal – and intimate.
The narrative concerns Mac (Ché Walker) who, on release from a long prison sentence for violent crime, begins the search for his daughter, Scratch (Joanne Marie Mason) who is in an on/off relationship with JayJayJay (Alice Walker). It is staged in an empty black space (designer Juliette Demoulin) with just four plinths on top of which are candles. The entire piece is lit (lighting design Venus Raven) by these candles which are snuffed out and re-lit by the actors during the play as required, plus electric torches held and switched on/off by the cast. The lighting therefore is very dim, but one soon gets used to that, and it certainly helps concentrate the mind on who/what the playwright intends.
The play is also very physical, with Mac and JayJayJay intertwining with each other throughout, but often there is total stillness, both on stage and in the audience, especially in the aforementioned soliloquies, which come across as perfectly natural, even though the three characters use the sort of heightened language that in real life their characters would never do.
As JayJayJay, Alice Walker is superb, having an inner calmness that is totally at one with the play as well as using the minimal lighting to enhance her facial expressions and therefore allow us to see what she is thinking. This is a very believable portrayal of a complete person – she subtly reveals so much about herself.
Joanne Marie Mason is fast-talking Scratch, often mumbling her words, but that is part of her character. Thanks to the perceptive script she also reveals a great deal about herself and the observer really does find her/himself caring for these people, for real they gradually are.
Ché Walker is Mac, unable to cope with life either in prison or outside. Owing to his physical presence he seems to dominate the acting area, even when he is not even taking part in a particular scene, yet at times appears unusually calm and accepting of his lot in life.
If you like searching out plays that are different but accessible, I am sure you will appreciate Burnt-Up Love. It is a very powerful, involving, piece of writing and stagecraft, and needs to be seen – highly recommended!
Review by John Groves
After decades in jail, Mac is looking for the daughter her has never known.
But she is in a collision course with her ex-lover’s family after her explosive temper gets the better of her.
Her new lover JayJayJay is trying to stay out of trouble, but this is one family that’s addicted to chaos.
Redemption versus Rage, Family versus Freedom…
A gripping tale of family conflict, the struggle for freedom, and the battle between redemption and rage, Burnt-Up Love delves into the beauty, turmoil, and tangled lives of three people navigating the unforgiving realities of the inner city.
Cast: Joanne Marie Mason, Alice Walker, Ché Walker
Written and Directed by Ché Walker
Original music composed by Uchenna Ngwe
Additional original music composed by Sheila Atim
Set and Lighting Design by Juliette Demoulin
Choreography by Billy Medline
Associate Directors: Benjamin Isaac, Jack Medlin and Mo Sesay
BURNT-UP LOVE
Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED
29 October to 23 November 2024
