Sarah Niles and Wil Johnson in rehearsals for Leave Taking at the Bush Theatre © Helen MurrayLEAVE TAKING tells the story of a single mother Enid Matthews (Sarah Niles) and her two daughters Del (Seraphina Beh) and Viv (Nicholle Cherrie). Working two jobs to provide her children with the life she never had, Enid feels frightened about not being able to control Del and Viv’s destiny and so she seeks help from Mai, an obeah woman (Adjoa Andoh). As the women get to know each other and we, the audience, get to know their stories and the complexities of their lives.
The Bush Theatre’s Artistic Director Madani Younis directs LEAVE TAKING with precision, maintaining a balance between comedy and drama, allowing the piece just the right amount of rhythm and space. Pinnock’s words fill the imaginary rooms of this world, this timeless world so beautifully co-created by Rosanna Vizee’s minimalist and at times symbolic set design. Aided by Rajiv Pattani’s lighting design which oscillates between naturalistic and eerie ambience, LEAVE TAKING is an incredibly atmospheric and heart piercing production.
Sarah Niles delivers an outstanding performance as the caring and hard-working Enid. There is so much love in her character, and despite her inability to understand her daughters, she seeks nothing but their happiness. A devastating moment in the play reveals just how much Enid is willing to sacrifice to make life good for Del and Viv, even if it means forgetting her identity. Uncle Brood, played with much charisma by Wil Johnson, acts as a constant reminder of just how much post-colonial Britain is willing to sacrifice for the black citizens of Commonwealth. He vouches to keep his Jamaican passport just in case “they” change their mind; a gigantic line in light of the recent Windrush Scandal. Adjoa Andoh as Mai, the obeah woman trapped in between there and here, is a hypnotising mix of female strength and courage, her performance heart-breaking at times of her vulnerability.
Winsome Pinnock examines the vast differences between her characters not only by exploring the conflict between first generation versus second generation, but by also acknowledging the struggles and hardships that are so well known to black women of different generations. LEAVE TAKING poses many questions about identity and lack of choices, or to word it better; lack of freedom. The life of Enid is known to too many.
LEAVE TAKING is a heart-breaking story of many grandparents, parents, aunts, and daughters, and this is why Pinnock’s writing rips right through your soul, as it reminds us of the richness and authenticity of the many forgotten stories that shape the world around us. In times like these we need to hear more from Winsome Pinnock.
Two Noble Kinsmen, one of Shakespeare’s lesser known plays, jointly penned with John Fletcher, is refreshingly different whilst pleasingly familiar. Perhaps this is because it is based on Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale, but I suspect it has more to do with director, Barrie Rutter and his company, who have worked magic on a story packed with Shakespeare’s common motifs: a court from which two soldiers are banished, disguise in the woods; unrequited love and even folk performers who entertain the court.