Mustapha Matura’s plays come across like dramatised calypso. Set in a well-designed kitchen which has “everything except food”, this 1981 play tells the pungent tale of prosperous Trinidadian professionals Hugh(Kevin N Golding) and his wife Jean (Martina Laird) whose lives change when he buys a mango from a stall outside hisoffice.
Hugh suddenly yearns for the food of his childhood and hires young cook Elsa (Bethan Mary-James) to prepare dishes for him. Gradually, he starts returning to his roots as the food releases his inner nature, buried for years in suits and cars and endless meetings.
Matters come to a head when he attends a meeting of an entirely different sort – a Shango ritual where women whirl themselves into a trance and cockerel’s blood is scattered on the ground.
All three performers convey Matura’s deft and witty Trinidadian dialogue as if born to it (hats off to voice and accent coach Aundrea Fudge, as well as designer Olivia Jamieson for creating a functioning kitchen).
Directed with supple energy by actor Kalungi Ssebandeke in his directorial debut, this is sunshine and moonlight, rum and ritual, and a critique of colonial legacy all wrapped up in one big-hearted and ultimately explosive package.
Meetings, Orange Tree Theatre until November 11 Tickets: 020 8940 3633
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