Writing down what I think about theatre I've seen in That London, whether I've been asked to or not.
Showing posts with label Femi Temowo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Femi Temowo. Show all posts
Thursday, 25 July 2024
Theatre review: The Hot Wing King
The Pulitzer drama prize continues to try and get me back on side, with its 2021 award going to a writer I've liked for a long time, Katori Hall. The Hot Wing King's take on the hot-button topic of masculinity, and particularly black masculinity, is a refreshingly different one as it centres the action around a found family of gay men: After five years in a long-distance relationship Cordell (Kadiff Kirwan) moved from St Louis to Memphis to be with boyfriend Dwayne (Simon-Anthony Rhoden,) leaving everything behind including a wife and two children. The play takes place over the weekend of the annual Hot Wing Contest, a cook-out Cordell has come close to winning but never quite achieved before, and as ever they're joined by their friends, the flamboyant Isom (Olisa Odele) and more reserved, sports-loving Big Charles (Jason Barnett,) to help them put together the recipes Cordell has perfected over the last year.
Thursday, 8 July 2021
Stage-to-screen review: and breathe...
Even though I've started to go back to live theatre and get around London a bit more, venues like the Almeida, Lyric Hammersmith, Hampstead and Kiln that involve a fairly long Tube journey for me still feel like a bit of a trip too far. My second vaccination is booked for tomorrow so within a couple of weeks I should be happier travelling a bit further, but in the meantime some of those theatres are continuing to offer a digital alternative. Yomi Ṣode's and breathe... is coming to the end of its run but the Almeida have snuck in a live stream of the production, an autobiographical monologue in which Junior (David Jonsson) relates the story of a family bereavement, in part as an apology to his cousin Ade, who broke the bad news to him and got a violent reaction for his pains. Junior is the oldest in his generation of the family, and has a partner and child of his own; but it also means he feels like he should be taking responsibility for the cousins in times of crisis, and feels like he's neglected his duties when he hears of Big Mummy's illness.
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