Tambo and Bones – Stratford East, London

The titular pair find themselves stuck in a minstrel show, slowly coming to the realisation that performing for others, rather than themselves, is something they long to escape from. What follows is a jump to present day, and then beyond, as Tambo and Bones seek to get rich for themselves, and escape the entrapment society puts them in. The pair differ in their aims. Bones is hell bent on getting rich by any means, and the slapstick humour of the first part lands well. Tambo, meanwhile, symbolically spends the opening sleeping before ‘waking up’ and settling on his desire to change the world. The pair reflects, towards the conclusion, that they have been talking for over 400 years to bring their story to the fore, and while a lot of this piece relies on dialogue, it is the brutal, evocative, deafening silence it concludes with that will last long in the memory.

It is a bold start, the nature of a minstrel show being exploitative, but this proves an excellent choice in setting out the pair’s aims for personal and wider agency. This is supported by Matthew Xia’s eye-catching direction and Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey and ULTZ’s set and costume design, giving the place a distinct feel at each junction, and it is remarkable how quickly the tonal shift move from the colourful, questionable, minstrel show of Part One to the bleak, bare, dystopia we get in Part Three.

As Tambo, Clifford Samuel works hard, to begin with, to be the straight man to Daniel Ward’s extrovert Bones. Samuel’s Tambo is initially restrained in his views, longing to sleep and let life pass him by. Harris’s wider metaphor of sleep works well through Tambo’s character as it is he who ‘wakes up’ throughout the production, rightly angry at the pigeonholes he, Bones, and those they represent are placed in. This is a play that exposes, brutally, the struggles Black individuals face, especially Black Americans, and Samuel’s portrayal of Tambo’s epiphany is strong.

Ward, returning to the role of Bones, exudes confidence, and it is through Bones’ character that a lot of the play’s biggest humour comes from. Ward’s energetic, rousing display peaks brilliantly by the conclusion of the first half, and it is a clever piece of writing that makes Bones then the focal point of the play’s devastating conclusion, given the lively events preceding it. Bones’ quest for quarters is a nice contrast to Tambo’s wanting to change the world, and Ward captures this well in a role that he has truly made his own. It is a piece that feels fresh, exciting, and leaves you wondering in what direction it will take next, and this is down to Samuel and Ward’s terrific performances.

Jaron Lammens and Dru Cripps appear as the ‘X-Bots’ during a stripped-back second half, using incredible physicality to bring the machines to life, rightly earning a few gasps from a rapt audience at the scale of their physical work. Like everything else in this production, the pair are slick in their delivery, and the initial awe of these characters moves quite quickly into something more grippingly sinister.

It is a play rich in comedic writing which skewers racism and capitalist ideologies, with Harris’s script remaining as fresh and as dynamic as it was during its initial 2023 run. The play’s message is obvious, but the novel execution, part minstrel show, part concert and part sci-fi dystopia forces audiences to confront Harris’s intentions head-on, and with enormous success, leading to a gripping and shocking final act that defies convention and slowly strips away the rampant comedy into something more real and visceral, evoking something extremely shocking to watch unfold.

At just under two hours, this races through some of society’s biggest questions with head-on collisions, refusing to withdraw from important conversations. The stark shifts through, not just time, but through genres is a brave choice, but one that feels entirely necessary, and the subversion is a strong stylistic choice that enhances the dystopic world the play leaves us in by the end.

WhileTambo and Bonesis a lot of fun and packed full of terrific punchlines, its true brilliance is in the thought it provokes. Harris’s writing runs through time, yet the longing for identity, and for the world to ‘wake up’ to institutional racism, reiterates this work as urgent as it was upon its UK premiere, at this same theatre, two years ago. A shocking and scintillating piece of theatre.