An intriguing evening as Phil Okwedy shares his extraordinary, personal story as a child growing up with mixed heritage in Wales in the '60s.
Phil’s Nigerian father, Felix, the first of his family to benefit from a Western education, has the unique chance to bring his family on a government work scheme to live and work in Cardiff. Here Felix meets Mary, Phil’s mother. Mary is herself unusually accomplished for her time. She previously worked at Bletchley Park, already has two children and a full-time job and even holds a mortgage in her own name. These two remarkable people meet somehow in Cardiff and by March 1961 Phil is born.
More unusually, Phil tells us he never actually lived with either of them. By the time Mary was five months pregnant, she had temporarily moved 100 miles to have the baby at ‘Auntie Barbara’s’, a retired nurse who runs a foster home and lodgings. It is with the inspiring Barbara that Phil lives and grows to adulthood. Phil’s parents continue with their lives. Mary eventually works in London and Felix returns to Nigeria with his family.
Phil is an unassuming and likeable storyteller. After his mother dies in 2005, he finds 10 years of letters (from 1961 to 1971) from his father in her belongings. As he reads each of his father’s letters, he interweaves the contents with evocative and captivating images from magical African myths and legends, and also harrowing stories from slave ships.
The title of the show is The Gods Are All Here. Phil asks who the gods in his life have come to be. He points out for many children parents are viewed as gods until awareness grows and we recognise our parents are fallible and human. Certainly, it could be said that Phil’s remarkable parents may have felt extraordinary. With their new hybrid family and dreams of a prosperous life in Nigeria, they may have felt they were embarking on a new journey despite insurmountable odds. But as the correspondence unfolds, it is clear that neither had their feet on the ground—yet this definitely didn’t make them gods.
It is undoubtedly an extraordinary story, but it is also a rather frustrating evening. So many questions you want to ask are dangled in front of us and left unanswered. How often did Phil see his parents? what about the extended family? what about his brothers and sisters? what happened to Barbara? Although they may not be important, it is distracting. The different storylines from reality and legend never really come together conclusively. It is possible Okwedy is trying to do too much: racism; slavery; identity; abandonment; growing up; mixed heritage; growing self awareness; parenting. Running in parallel, they create a rather hybrid production.
However, despite the pain, Okwedy shares it all with a smile. Even the revelation that it was 10 years before he could even bring himself to open the letters. It is admirable and heartbreaking what he has had to endure and still radiate hope. His parents may not be gods, but this story touches on many remarkable, even heroic people, but still human with all their faults too.