Errol John’s play from the 1950s deals with three households that share a yard in the less-than-wealthy side of Trinidad. It begins with a song that sets the scene: a song about poverty and corruption everywhere, people are hungry when they should be angry – it’s an indirect commentary on the state of the UK under the present coalition government. It is perhaps the only moment when the show has signs of contemporary relevance. Having as much impact as an Ibsen play when it was first produced, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl suffers nowadays thanks to the prevalence of similar material widely available on the telly. There is nothing that happens here that you can’t see in a soap opera any night of the week.
What counts then is the execution. Director Michael Buffong allows his excellent cast time to let their characters breathe. There is humour and conflict in the form of spats between neighbours but overall there is a leisurely pacing that allows us to savour the performances. It reminds me of an August Wilson or an Arthur Miller – with a Caribbean flavour.
Martina Laird is powerful as matriarch Sophie Adams; hard-working and sardonic, she is ultimately a tragic figure as circumstances conspire to tear her little world apart. Funny and formidable, Laird collapses into heart-rending distress as the lights go down. It’s a superb performance.
She is supported by a likeable ensemble. Tahirah Sharif is brimming with youthful vigour and youthful temperament as Sophie’s daughter Esther, whose scholarship to attend high school prompts her unemployed father (Jude Akuwudike) to take action that has devastating repercussions. Neighbour Ephraim (an excellent Okezie Morro) seeks to improve his prospects by sailing off to a new life in England. To do this he must abandon his up-the-duff girlfriend (Alisha Bailey) who is in turn fending off sexual harassment from her boss Old Mr Mack (Burt Caesar) who is also everyone’s landlord. Old Mack is a bit of a slimeball and is held up for ridicule. There is also comic relief from squawking whore Mavis (Bethan Mary James) and Prince, her suitor (Ray Emmet Brown) Errol John allows Mavis a roundedness to her character. Despite her loudness and carrying-on, she is that staple of drama and literature, a tart with a heart.
Soutra Gilmour’s detailed set and Steve Brown’s sound design give us a strong flavour of the location and the period. We can imagine the world beyond the yard. As with plays of this type, important events take place off-stage. It’s an old-fashioned, well-made play made vibrant in a high quality, impassioned production.
The play suggests that wanting to better yourself comes at a terrible price, and you will invariably be worse off for trying – which is rather a dim view of the potential for social mobility – which is perhaps true of Britain today too…
Martina Laird
Bum on a Seat 