The Lonely Londoners – Kiln Theatre

This is unusual and creative adaptation of Samuel Selvon’s 1956 book, which was one of the first.to focus on the lives of poor working class black people settling in England following the enactment of the British Nationality Act 1948.  Set in the 1950s it provides vignettes of the life of a small group of black Londoners as they try to adjust to the cold and the blatant racism of the time, finding inevitably that London’s streets are not paved with gold which they had been promised back in their home countries.

This production, which has transferred to the Kiln theatre after a very successful run at the Jermyn Street theatre is a mixture of theatre and movement.  The eight strong cast worked very well as an ensemble with members of the cast not directly involved in the current scene either sitting on boxes at the back of the acting area or moving, often in slow motion and dreamlike sequences, around the action.  There is no other stage furniture or scenery, but around the three sides of the acting area are large banks of coloured lights which periodically flash different colours and project different shapes. It was accompanied by a variety of engaging music and beautiful singing. It is a visual and audible feast.

The cast were highly accomplished working very well together and very energetically. Solomen Israel and Romario Simpson took the lead roles of Moses and Galahad. The scenes varied between monologues to the audience and dialogue and demonstrated the difficulties of obtaining jobs, satisfactory housing and maintaining relationships in a basically hostile environment.  There were some very touching moments, for example when Galahad cursed the colour of his skin for causing the problems that he was experiencing, and when Moses lamented that in spite of all the problems, they were facing London had got under his skin and was now his home and thus he could not return to his native land.

While I was full of admiration for the inventiveness and energy of the production. I felt that there was rather too much emphasis on movement and dance and the narrative was weaker than it could have been and at one hour and fifty minutes without an interval, it did feel a little long at times.

Reviewer: Paul Ackroyd

Reviewed: 16th January 2015

North West End UK Rating: