Preview

Eclipse theatre started out in 2001 as a response to a report revealing racism in British theatre, but the subsequent 8 years have seen Eclipse transform from government initiative to stand alone theatre company taking the form of a coalition of mid range venues in Ipswich, Bristol and Birmingham. Eclipse’s main focus is to develop the profile of Black theatre in Britain. Having adapted several major works with great success including Chekov’s Three Sisters the company has now set its sights on a harrowing true story from our own shores.

The Hounding of David Oluwale is an adaptation of Kester Aspden’s 2007 book of the same name and tells the true story of the life of African immigrant David Oluwale, the eventual victim of police brutality in 1969 and whose murder was the first recognised incident of British racist policing to lead to a Black person’s death.

The man responsible for the adaptation is Oladipo Agboluaje, British-Nigerian playwright and former writer in residence at Soho theatre London and Ipswich’s own New Wolsey theatre. What makes this particular production look so interesting is the way in which Agboluaje has effectively resurrected David Oluwale on the stage to tell his own story, an approach that promises to be truly engaging, allowing the audience to witness the travails of a troubled man, from his first moments in Leeds to his questionable 8 year admittance to Menston Asylum and, eventually, even his death. Agboluaje says that this technique, he feels, encourages the audience to make up their own minds as the tale unfolds.

Despite the obviously sombre tone of the main turning points in David’s story Agboluaje promises there are regular moments of relief and those lucky enough to get a sneak preview have said they laughed as much as they cried.

Review

The most immediately noticeable thing about this play is how funny it is; allow me to explain, The Hounding of David Oluwale is a tale of one ambitious man’s immigration into the United Kingdom, a land in which he hopes to realise his dream of being a respectable mechanic. Things soon turn sour however as David realises that poverty of a different kind is just as prevalent in the queen’s country as in his native Nigeria and the locals are anything but accommodating. He is hounded and beaten by Leeds’ police officers repeatedly after his wrongful admittance to a mental asylum leaves him twisted and living on the street. The officers are eventually responsible for his death.

I know what you’re thinking, “This doesn’t sound very funny Thom… It sounds really sad and I think you might be a racist, or at least a sadist… cock!” But honestly, the play surprisingly has a lot of moments of relief! It never cheapens the adversity faced by David but is more of a knowing mockery of such a brutal situation in this most supposedly civilised of nations.

Interestingly, the story is told retrospectively following David’s death but the one telling the story is David himself, the open scene features him literally springing to life to tell his story to the Scotland Yard detective carrying out the enquiry on the Leeds police force. You know the plot from the off so it’s the filling in of the hows, wheres and whys that you’re interested in, making it more about the life of the man rather than a cop drama.

Due to its disjointed narrative, the tone never becomes too heavy; as soon as David is at his lowest point it snaps back to Nigeria and his happy days there. Not only does this give you room to breathe, it really highlights the tragedy of the story making the emotional moments all the more poignant and certainly jerking more than a few tears in the audience. It’s hard to find much wrong with the play, there were a few lines that I thought tried to “tell” too much where things could have been shown, particularly when it came to David’s being victimised, they made things sound a bit preachy and the only reason they stand out is because the rest of the play is so matter-of-fact.

I think the entertainment factor of the play stems from writer Dipo Agboluaje’s roots in satire which frequently spring through, particularly in the speeches given by party officials showcasing the majesty of Leeds to come, owing to numerous government developments that are just dark and cheeky.

The cast are exceptional, there’s about eight of them but the roster of characters must be in the thirties. Its very convincing and the man responsible for portraying David, (ryan jandf) does so expertly, switching like a light between the bright and cheeky youth to the dark and broken man.

More details on Eclipse theatre at www.eclipsethatre.org.uk  

Words > Thom W Haley