Antoinette Nwandu’s shattering study of how racism flattens the hopes of two young black men dreaming of a better life is quite something. Not least because it offers an evening of theatre that manages to be existential, emotional, politically urgent and often deeply comic.
Inspired by Waiting for Godot and the Exodus story, Moses (Paapa Essiedu) and Kitch (Gerswyn Eustache Jnr)’s day has settled into a mundane and repetitive pattern: try and work out how to get up off of this block, avoid getting killed by policemen. Until one day the pair encounter Mister (Alexander Eliot), a man as white as the pristine suit he wears. Talkative and nervous, he says 'gee golly gosh' a lot and is at pains to make clear he would never use ‘the N word’ – his mum told him not to.
There’s a foreboding atmosphere to Indhu Rubasingham’s production, which is alert to the unique rhythm and poetry of Nwandu’s writing and contains three thrilling performances. Eustache Jnr imbues Kitch with a poignant optimism, while Essiedu gives Moses a rueful intelligence that he almost regrets, for the foresight it brings. As both Mister and policeman Ossifer, Eliot’s physicality – from anxious to menacing – suggests not wanting to think about racism contributes to its violence.
Nwandu deftly shows how language carries connotations of sinister legacies; like the far-off gunshots, it’s often only Moses and Kitch who can hear them. But she also reveals the absurdity of living in a society where the institutions that are meant to protect you are more likely to harm you.
Aided by snatches of beauty from Robert Jones’s design, there are brief moments of catharsis. But the fundamental courage of Nwandu’s work is to refuse a comfortable conclusion – the world doesn’t. Instead she brings a humanity that racism can’t look away from.
Until March 21 (kilntheatre.com; 020 7328 1000)
