There are character names in We Too, Are Giants but the programme doesn’t list them, so I shall keep faith with the creative team and, as the producers of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child would put it, ‘keep the secrets’, at least in that regard. Imagine, if you will, a secular (as opposed to religious) afterlife with angels, in which the prevalent song is the Eurythmics tune ‘There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)’. It seemed, with the benefit of hindsight, an appropriate song title to summarise the narrative. This isn’t the last half hour of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, however: everyone can always hear everyone (within earshot, of course), whether angel or human, and it is telling that all of the 17-strong cast are dressed similarly. A sort of hierarchy exists in the narrative but not in the costumes.
In a nutshell, the play unravels the personal circumstances of five very different characters who live in the same part of London – Kilburn, to be precise. It takes the concept of ‘six degrees of separation’ to demonstrate, remarkably convincingly, that the five are connected to one another in ways that they would never have guessed. As the show starts in a ‘hell is other people’ environment, events are not dramatized in chronological order.
A young man threatens a young lady, apparently for ‘watching’ him. Confronted by a mother (not his own), there’s a bit of a stand-off, and accusations fly back and forth. Another man arrives, who turns out to be the younger man’s former teacher. The salient point is that despite what people sometimes perceive as lack of community in today’s urban spaces, people are linked to one another in ways that they often are not aware of. As for ‘watching’ someone, the famous words of WH Davies come to mind: “What is this life if, full of care / We have no time to stand and stare.”
The set is simple and clinical – modernist but not minimalist. Some good use is made of the performance space, and the production did well to deal with the extra challenges presented with putting on a play in an area that remained, quite rightly, open throughout to users of a community library. The choreographed movements suitably created chaos at the right moment, and in a celebratory finale, a definitive feel-good factor. And this is a company of actors that clearly get along well, which is always pleasing to see – even when characters are in contention, there are knowing looks, at least from my close-up vantage point, that suggest they enjoy performing with one another.
I rather liked the message the play sends out. The very best help out there is the one we can offer and receive ourselves, from people around us, in the local community. Small gestures and acts of kindness are incredibly meaningful to people, and can assist those in need in a very personal way that even a six or seven figure community grant from the Government or the Heritage Lottery Fund could never achieve. Blessings and pleasant surprises can come from the most unlikely sources, and likewise, each person may be confounded by what they can achieve. A thoughtful and challenging production.
Review by Chris Omaweng
Modern life requires too much of us – takes too much from us. Our only hope may be the community we live in.
Inspired by the community of Brent, this is a story of how the lives of five people collide in a moment, but in that moment their ideas of what their community can offer them changes forever.
Set in a world that bridges life and death, giants and angels, what will these strangers learn about their own lives that will help them see others in a new light?
This performance takes place at Willesden Green Library Centre, 95 High Road, Willesden Green, NW10 2SF
Presented by Tricycle Theatre Community Company
Written by: Chino Odimba
Directed by: Audrey Sheffield
Assistant Director: Rebekah Murrell
Set and Costume Design: Jemima Robinson
Sound Design: Becky Smith
Lighting Designer: Pablo Fernandez Baz
Stage Manager: Sylvia Darkwa Ohemeng
DATES
Sat 8 Apr 2017 – Sun 9 Apr 2017
Run time: 60 mins
Presented by Tricycle Theatre Community Company
Written by: Chino Odimba
Directed by: Audrey Sheffield
http://www.tricycle.co.uk/
