Please Do Not Touch – Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

Writer: Casey Bailey

Director: Gail Babb

We’ve all seen them. Every time we enter a museum or heritage house they’re there, the signs requesting us to keep our hands of the artefacts – and most people dutifully obey, admire the item and move on, often without a thought about where it may have come from, who its original owner was or how it came to be in this particular collection.

Not Mason though. Mason is a TikToker, who spends his time examining the artefacts that exist in these places and exposing the truth behind their origin stories. How did they get the money for a garden that vast, and who is the man in this painting with an iron collar and chain? Here’s a wooden comb with the sign – “Please do not touch” it says, but wouldn’t it have been better if the people who took it from Somalia had followed the same instruction and left it where it was? And what would happen if someone did touch it? Who does it belong to, why can’t someone now take it, as it was taken from Africa?

At a time when heritage organisations are generally becoming more transparent about the history of the pieces and items in their care while some pressure groups are attempting to cover up the darker aspects of colonial history, this is a timely and thought-provoking world premiere which raises questions about how those stories are told, while also challenging the criminal justice system. Should prison be a place of punishment or rehabilitation, and is it right to deprive people of something that is helping them to survive the regime as an additional punishment?

This production features Tijan Sarr as Mason, in a fine performance that takes us through a range of emotions as times change – from the matter-of-fact TikToker to despondency and anger when he encounters the injustices inherent in the prison system. It’s a one-person play, so Sarr never leaves the stage and invests a lot of energy into creating and maintaining his character throughout – though sometimes in moments of great anger or emotion some of his dialogue gets lost as a result of over-fast delivery.

Designer Miriam Nabarro has come up with a simple set for this Belgrade co-production with China Plate – it’s effectively a prison cell on rails, allowing it to be brought forward or pushed to the back as different locations demand, and the script by former Birmingham Poet Laureate Casey Bailey, developed in consultation with the National Trust and criminal justice theatre makers Geese Theatre Company, raises some important issues though using a final poem to introduce ideas that haven’t been discussed during the body of the work feels almost like it’s an afterthought.

At a time when it feels as though theatre has lost its way as a vehicle for raising awareness of social issues, here’s a piece designed to do just that and it’s a play that should definitely be seen, making us reflect on important questions at an important time.

Runs until 21 September 2024