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Reviews
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Baby Girl / DNA / The MiraclePlays by Roy Williams, Dennis Kelly and Lin Coghlan
Baby Girl The first play in this evening for younger audiences is a morality tale that addresses an issue that will put a chill into the heart of any parent. The protagonist is 13 year old Kelle, played by the talented Candassaie Liburd. She seems like a normal little girl, talking back to her single mum and messing around with pals. The difference is that she is pregnant, the consequence of the peer pressure to lose her virginity. In this case, history is repeating itself, as her mum, Petra Letang's Sam is going to be a grandmother at twenty-six. Roy Williams' play explores a second- and third-generation West Indian culture where teen pregnancy is the norm. Winston Sarpong plays the father Nathan, a little boy whose voice has not yet broken. He in turn is just following in the footsteps of his bold brother Richie (Troy Glasgow). By the age of 17, this wastrel was a father three times over and doing his best a year or two on to create a fourth gymslip mum. The plot seems designed to ensure that the message railing against the risks of unprotected sex is sounded loud and clear. Where Baby Girl is at its best though is in Williams use of the language of the high rise London housing estates seen on a split screen behind the players. This feels wholly authentic but it would be good to know precisely what a "yat" is. Director Paul Miller is not helped by some underpowered performances in this hour-long drama but the subject matter needed airing and might persuade the odd younger visitor that a baby is a little more than a fashion accessory.
DNA Dennis Kelly has a unique authorial voice so that there could never be a doubt that this black comedy thriller has come from his pen. The best play of a long evening (three hour-long plays plus two intervals) addresses another important subject, bullying. The large cast talk naturalistically about school and their fellows. The skill that Kelly brings to bear is in creating distinctive teenagers who work together to create a unique milieu and a gripping horror story. In many ways, it is the absent Adam who is the central figure, even though he has passed on before the play commences. He is a boy who gets bullied into a fatal fall after "we took it a bit far" while "having a laugh". This puts unbelievable pressure on ten of his school mates who feel themselves collectively compromised. Rather than owning up, under the influence of Sam Crane's oracular but generally silent, coldly amoral Phil, they concoct a marvellous conspiracy that has unexpected but terrifyingly logical consequences. This all follows through, acutely observing the character of a group of people under extreme stress as the kids are forced to grow up rapidly, rather like battery hens preparing to be slaughtered. There is then a twist worthy of Roald Dahl, which changes the course of the play and makes one realise just how cruel children can be, at least in Dennis Kelly's Lord of the Flies-like dystopia. DNA is distinguished by a great tour de force from Ruby Bentall who is destined for great things. Playing Lea, she talks incessant rubbish but adds such colour to her performance that one is enchanted.
The Miracle Ruby Bentall also stars in this slice of Disney fantasy with a touch of grit. She plays Ron, a geeky Catholic girl who witnesses a minor miracle and is blessed with "special powers" that give her "a channel for the energy". These transform her into the kind of healer who might expect to be sanctified a few centuries hence - that is, if she is not condemned as a witch. Inevitably, Veronica is seen at different points as both a saviour and a charlatan and Lin Coghlan makes us wait to discover whether the 13 year old misfit might just be the real thing. The Miracle is narrated by Ron's star-struck friend Zelda, played by Rebecca Cooper, who has a good knack for comedy. She keeps up the pace throughout this parable about the unfairness of condemning and victimising eccentric outsiders. The humour comes out as the tough kids, Barry the joyrider played by Benjamin Smith and Lorenzo, the squaddie returning from the desert, are healed by a child whose fashion sense is perfectly summed by her attachment to a tea cosy hat. After the shocks of the two companion pieces, some viewers might welcome a light comedy that shows children acting their age and gently presents a humane message about the horrors of war.
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