Read more about the article REVIEW: Les Blancs, Olivier National Theatre (2016)
Sheila Atim as The Woman (Photo: Johan Persson)

REVIEW: Les Blancs, Olivier National Theatre (2016)

This production is spellbinding and its momentum stays with me occupying my thoughts, whirring like the revolving stage. The text, finalised by Lorraine Hansberry's former husband and literary executor Robert Nemiroff, would bear much further study to grasp all its themes and nuances. Written from her viewpoint in the 1960s by American playwright Lorraine Hansberry, the original person to be described as "young, gifted and black", her unfinished play Les Blancs, examines an unnamed African country on the brink of revolution and independence from colonial rule. Lorraine Hansberry was in her mid thirties when she tragically died of pancreatic cancer.

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Read more about the article REVIEW: The Brothers Size, Young Vic (2008)
Tunji Kasim as Ochoosi - Photo: Donald Cooper

REVIEW: The Brothers Size, Young Vic (2008)

The Brothers Size is a magical play that will stay with you long after seeing it performed. This mythical quality comes not only from Tarell Alvin McCraney's lyrical writing but from the magnificent haunting production given to us by director Bijan Sheibani. I had paid to see The Brothers Size at the Young Vic last year, too late to review in the dying days of the run, and was blown away by the actors Nathaniel Martello-White and Nyasha Hatendi. From the moment when white chalk and string is used to delineate the perfect circle playing area and some red chalk is crumbled onto the black floor as a powder to be smudged like drawings of bursting fire works, I was enthralled by the rhythm of the words and the grace of the movement.

Continue ReadingREVIEW: The Brothers Size, Young Vic (2008)