This was the show that had a ‘Black Out Night’ when it previously came to Stratford East (officially, the Theatre Royal Stratford East, but like the Royal National Theatre, it no longer brands itself using its full title) – which, contrary to what some mainstream media outlets reported, “did not prevent or preclude anyone from attending”, recognising the law of the land and not deploying illegal discriminatory practices – “nobody was turned away [on the basis of any protected characteristic]”. The production retains a desire to be provocative – there’s liberal use of the N-word, albeit by black actors playing black characters. I still don’t know what to make of that: here, it is substituted for the word ‘person’, such that there are “white n—s” as well as black ones.
Or rather, at least in the world the production creates, there were. A future is imagined in which robots and artificial intelligence have become so powerful that the worst fears of its detractors were realised, and white people have been massacred in a global genocide. (I don’t know what happened to black people who tried to protect the lives of white friends – I can only assume they became collateral damage.) Thus, there are no longer ‘white n—s’ and ‘black n—s’, but just ‘n—s’. If anything, the use of the N-word becomes rather dull and repetitive, perhaps deliberately so, and of course, one must be selective when quoting the show on the Tube home.
The technical challenges are many, as the show is divided into three ‘parts’, each one set in a different century. They also give the lead actors opportunities to demonstrate their sheer versatility, both in delivery style, because there’s everything from talking about how to extract money from people to pertinent contemporary issues explored through rap music. In essence, the first part is largely given over to a consideration of the pursuit of the American Dream, specifically for black men. There’s something quite telling that there appears to be nothing they can do to attain success, so they might as well try and get some kip. In the second part, Tambo (Clifford Samuel) and Bones (Daniel Ward) are on a ‘world tour’, playing arenas as Grammy Award-winning rappers, but there are major differences as to what each considers acceptable and appropriate to perform to a paying public.
The third part sees the introduction of a couple of ‘X-Bots’ (Jaron Lemmons and Dru Cripps) – robots who, by definition, have no free will and therefore only do what is instructed of them. But that provides insufficient dramatic tension, so there’s a plot twist in this retelling of the story of Tambo and Bones, some four hundred years after the events in question. The movements, mind you, are a delight to watch, with one move performed by Cripps that was ingenious and impressive enough to draw gasps from the discerning Stratford East audience (no spoilers, because I don’t know how he did it, suffice to say I’m guessing there’s a ‘magic and illusions consultant’ in the show’s credits for a reason).
There’s a refreshing vibrancy in this piece of theatre, which is unabashed and unafraid in a world increasingly fearful of saying and/or doing the ‘wrong’ thing. For reasons explained in the narrative, there is no curtain call, leaving the audience to applaud nobody at the end. Plenty of thought has gone into making this production something different and memorable.
Review by Chris Omaweng
Tambo & Bones is an exhilarating, darkly comic and provocative satire on capitalism and Black performance, that explores the commodification of the Black experience through the mediums of minstrelsy, hip-hop and afro-futurism. Spanning 500 years, Tambo and Bones journey from comedy double-act to hip-hop superstars to activists in a future America, contending with the alarming repercussions of a nation torn apart by race. Dave Harris’ blistering play laughs through our past, blows the roof off our present and imagines an explosive future for our world and for theatre.
Clifford Samuel – Tambo
Daniel Ward – Bones
Jaron Lemmens – X-Bot-1
Dru Cripps – X-Bot-2
Writer – Dave Harris
Director – Matthew Xia
Set and Costume Designers – Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey and ULTZ
Lighting Designer – Ciarán Cunningham
Hip-Hop Beats – Excalibah (‘WAR’ produced by Roly Botha and Excalibah and ‘Dollas to Dreams’ produced by Excalibah and Roly Botha)
Sound Designer and Additional Composition – Richard Hammarton
Movement Director – Kloé Dean
Video Designer – Gino Ricardo Green
Associate Director – Dubheasa Lanipekun
Hard of Wardrobe – Ysanne Tidd
Fight Director – Sam Lyon-Behan
Original Fight Choreography – Kevin McCurdy
Voice and Dialect Coach – Joel Trill
Magic and Illusions Consultant – Chris Cox
Production Drama Therapist – Wabriya King
Original Casting – Julia Joran
Voice Actor – Michael Simkins
Puppetry Designer – Hugh Purves
Assistant Designer – Mark Simmons
TAMBO & BONES
Stratford East
29 April to 10 May 2025
