Photo: Isha Shah

This is the first revival of Bola Agbaje’s play about street life in her native Peckham since its debut at The Royal Court sixteen years ago. And with a cast of young people along with an edgy take on racism and identity, it’s a good fit for the National Youth Theatre’s Rep Company. Moreover, this is one of four “global majority” texts now set for study as a GCSE drama option so there’s growing interest in it from schools – and it was good to see a school party in the audience on the opening night.

Ikudayisi (Dalumuzi Moyo) has recently come from Nigeria to join his mother and his younger brother Yemi (Jerome Scott) who was born in London. The differences between the two of them – and the bonding – form the backdrop for the play’s exploration of the reality of Peckham life including the tensions between Africans and West Indians, the relationship with shopkeepers, police, neighbours and, of course, other young people on the estate. It could easily end in tragedy but doesn’t.

Of course the play deals with some very serious issues. Racist abuse is hurled about and lots of unsayable things are said – cue for wincing, sighs and gasps from the audience. It’s certainly powerful – and pretty insightful for those of us who haven’t personally experienced an environment like this or needed to worry much about our identity and where we belong.

It is also very funny indeed. So funny, in fact, that an audience rich in friends and enthusiastic supporters in celebratory mood laughed so long and loud on opening night that even from Row F I missed some of the dialogue. Moyo, whose character hides his vulnerablity behind fake accents and over-the-top Nigerian posturing, is a very accomplished, nuanced comic actor and definitely one to watch. Scott meanwhile gives us an impressively reasonable, articulate, exasperated Yemi. And the scene when they fight towards the end and are broken up by overbearing, patronising, abusive police officers, who completely misread the situation, is very telling.

Jessica Enemokwu is strong as the boys’ mother – using a fabulously stereotypical Nigerian accent and mannerisms but dropping it hilariously when she answers her phone. Hannah Zoe Ankrah is pleasing as the calm, refined, always reasonable Paris.

This production feels, however, spun out. It was advertised in the press release as ninety minutes straight through. In the event we get a twenty-minute interval and it runs until nearly 10.00pm. I suspect that various devised mini-scenes have been worked in order to give every member of the twenty-strong ensemble something to do. There is, for example, an entertaining couple of minutes with a lithely cavorting prostitute in the red light district. It’s quite fun but adds nothing to the narrative which loses impetus because it’s broken in the middle. Even the street entertainer singing down stage at the end of the interval feels like a bolt-on.

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  All photos: Isha Shah

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First published by Sardines: https://www.sardinesmagazine.co.uk/review/gone-too-far/