Writers: Yursa Warsama, Magero, Anyeba Godwin
Three actors, three different stories, three newly commissioned short plays for tiata fahodzi. Tiata fahodzi is the United Kingdom’s leading British African heritage contemporary theatre company.
The three writers, Yusra Warsama, Magero, and Anyebe Godwin have creatively crafted three engaging stories in Triple Bill: Everywhere. They dramatically address what we are as a society and possibly what we are becoming.
The first play, Y-Tephra (by Magero), is about a meeting between adult siblings – two sisters and their brother. They appear to be locked in an escape room with a limited time to solve a series of puzzles in order to find their way out. As the play progresses, we learn that it is their father’s death that has brought them together. Their lives have taken very different routes and they have to face their sibling rivalries and expectations in life. As one sibling makes a remark the others find contentious or revealing aspects of their true feelings – the other siblings freeze while their thoughts are spoken aloud. They discover things about each other that had not been expressed or discussed before. The question is posed, ‘do we even know each other?’
In the second play, Gestations (by Yusra Warsama), we encounter three pregnant women in an antenatal clinic waiting room. The scene is dystopian, no member of hospital staff is present. The three very different people engage in conversation as they wait. It emerges that the government has declared a one child only policy. Advertising rings out from the sound system and reminds them to breathe as tensions mount. There is a divide between them and they are critical and judgemental of each other. They are defensive of their pregnancies. It is poignant and sad as one woman feels she is seen simply as ‘a blue plastic bag woman’, she feels she is discarded by society.
The third play, Approach (by Anyebe Godwin), confronts the difficulty of finding somewhere to live, particularly if you are black and, on the council, waiting list. The tensions and human misery that the housing crisis brings to people is manifested. It shows how it affects relationships with family and friends who are also weighed down by the crisis. There is evidence of how potential tenants are fobbed off with second rate and unhealthy housing.
The dialogues and conversations in all three plays are at times lyrical, fast paced and quick witted. The three actors portray totally convincing characters. They play very diverse roles with no break between the plays. At times, the action within the plays is a little confusing. This was the case particularly in Approach with Seun, the man searching for accommodation. It was not clear if those he was ‘face timing’ were meant to be the other two characters on stage.
Recorded voices were used throughout the performance but at times the quality of the sound made it difficult to understand. However, the use of other sound effects timed precisely with lighting effects and reactions from the actors added a superb extra dimension to the drama. The set and props were simple; grey chairs playing a major part in setting the scenes.
Triple Bill: Everywhere is a very engaging, thought-provoking theatre experience. It has an original voice with a British African heritage slant. The Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse is the perfect venue to experience the plays – up close and intimate.
Runs until 5 April 2025
Editor’s note
Despite our typical practice of crediting those involved in the production, such as cast members, directors and designers, tiata fahodzi requested that only the writers were credited by name, so we have respected their wishes here.
