Writer: Beru Tessema
Director: Lynette Linton
Beru Tessema seems intent in demonstrating how true it is that unhappy families are indeed each unhappy in their own individual ways. This funny, warm and tragic play serves up an intriguing story of a family at its most unhappy times and how its members battle to deal with grief and a particularly mean betrayal.
On the day of Ife’s funeral his twin sister Aida alongside other siblings Yosi and Tsion try and prepare for the funeral party’s return to their flat, and wait for their father to fly in late from Ethiopia. It starts a tumultuous period for the family where grief and long-simmering arguments and resentments are brought aggressively to the surface. With Ife gone, they learn more about each other than they could imagine and face a heartbreaking make-or-break moment as a unit.
It can easily be seen as a work of two almost distinct characters – one a sharply observed comedy with snappy lines and an acute awareness of family dynamics. The other, a tragic story of drug use, dishonesty, generational conflict and struggle. They mesh well, allowing us to share perfectly in this family’s intimate moments as they joke and clash in rapid iteration.
Ife, meanwhile, is the catalyst that brings about all conversation and interaction as well as the cathartic conflict within this unit. Not present in the show, he’s referenced throughout as almost a talismanic figure. His life is the central point of the play and yet we’re only shown glimpses of him that do not resolve to enough of a person to power a huge moment of familial breakdown. Hints are also freely dropped at the bigger picture – the estate and society the family are living in – but rarely picked up properly. It’s wonderful to see a family like this represented on stage but it feels like their context and bigger story is not given enough space, though strong illustrations of the immigrant experience are made.
It’s an enjoyable hour and 45 minutes, often hilarious, constantly thought-provoking. While it’s a story of grief and rumbling conflict, the family dynamic is charming to watch. The joy the kids can feel with each other and the love the mother has for her brood are vivid and inviting. The drama created by the father’s scheming is intense, and when the conflict comes to a head we witness a genuinely superb moment of theatre. In a strong cast, Michael Workeye as Yosi stands out, drawing all eyes and attention every time he opens his mouth either as his regular self or as the roadman type that Yosi is trying to become.
The story about this fascinating family unit is absorbing, but we realise by the end we only barely know any of them beyond a superficial layer: a mother, a Sainsbury’s worker who raps, a grieving artist, a conscientious student, a scheming father. These characters feel too valuable to leave us with such little development. They spend a long time talking but ultimately make very little ground.
The jokes are great, there’s poetry in the language and some stunning performances (as well as Workeye, Karla-Simone Spence and Yohanna Ephrem as the daughters of the family are fantastic). But it’s a thin story and we’re left hungry for more. More conflict, more resolution, anything to move it from a story that hints at bigger issues through an engaging narrative to one that takes them on boldly.
As a debut work for the stage for Tessema it shows a beautiful new voice has been found, but harnessing and directing its power in a more focused way will produce some incredible theatre in the years to come.
Runs until 11 June 2022
The Reviews Hub Score
Often hilarious, constantly thought-provoking
