Lovers torn by racial tensions

David and Natasha are in love. But David is Nigerian and Natasha is Jamaican and David's elder sister has put her foot down. Jamaicans are only good for smoking weed, she tells him.

Not that Natasha's dad is chuffed either. David's people live in trees; worse, they sold us into slavery. Like a latter-day Romeo and Juliet, David and Natasha are forbidden from seeing each other.

Femi Oguns's debut play is raw and uneven. Yet, in daring to crack open the racial fault lines dividing Britain's black ethnic communities, it goes where few plays have gone before.

Through the prejudice of David and Natasha's friends and families, Oguns suggests that slavery's legacy of divide and rule is alive and kicking in the form of blatant racism. Moreover, he ridicules the lazy white view of black Britons as one homogenous community. Impressively, he lets these tensions reveal themselves through everyday detail, notably in a hilarious exchange over the different textures of African and Caribbean hair.

Where Oguns is guilty of melodrama and sentiment, Anouke Brook's well-acted production is often clunky. But spirit shines through and, at its best, the dialogue is funny, fierce and true.

Until Jul 28, Arcola Theatre, 27 Arcola Street E8, Tue to Sat 8.15pm, £13, £9 concs, Tue pay what you can.
Tel: 020 7503 1646.
www.arcolatheatre.com
Rail: Dalston Kingsland

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Arcola Theatre
Arcola Street, E8 2DJ