Set in Cardiff at the end of the Second World War Diana Nneka Atuona’s second play is not an obvious successor to her multi-award winning play Liberian Girl but it shows how her writing talent can tackle different subjects in different ways.  Still there is her talent for writing great dialogue and in this mixed race family set in multi-ethnic Butetown which with Cardiff Docks, encompassed Tiger Bay, there is plenty of kindness and humour.  

The matriarch is Welsh woman Gwyneth, (Sarah Parish) hard pressed to make ends meet after her Nigerian husband goes missing while serving in the British navy.  She has two daughters, Connie (Rita Bernard-Shaw) in her late teens and Georgina (Rosie Ekenna with a fabulous future in live theatre) a delightful ten year old.  Gwyneth is running her house as a slightly illegal boarding house but I must admit I was unsure in the first few minutes whether Peter McKintosh’s detailed set was a hostelry rather than lodgings.  There are flags of many countries on the walls. With so many itinerant sailors staying a few days while their ships are unloaded and cargoes reloaded, there was a need for temporary accommodation.