THEATRE: Desert Boy

(Reviewed by Ren Pereira)

Teenage knife crime has been covered in a variety of productions, so it’s understandable, maybe, that walking into The Albany, my expectations weren’t particularly high. Walking out after the show, however, was an entirely different experience

Mojisola Adebayo’s Desert Boy tells the story of Junior Weston –self proclaimed ‘Soldier Boy’- a black youth who, as his 16th birthday draws to an end, finds himself on Deptford beach with a knife in his stomach. As he calls for his mother, nearing his death, he’s joined by an unlikely companion, 300 year old Mali-native Desert Man, and together they journey through space and time, interlacing story and music, discovering truths about themselves and, in the process, understanding what it really means to ‘be a man’.

Adebayo didn’t intend the play to be a ‘wake-up call’ for youths on a wrong path, as I had originally thought: “In a funny way the play is designed for adults to re-think their perspective on young people, for the likes of me, who look down Deptford High Street, having a whole bunch of stereotypes and prejudices in my head and assumptions about young people, in particular young black men. The play is me challenging myself to look beyond that stereotype, beyond that prejudice. I wanted to say, if you see a black boy bleeding to death with a knife in his belly, don’t assume anything.”

Leading man Emmanuel Idowu is undoubtedly the shining star of the production. One minute he is crying for his mother in a heart-breaking, gut-wrenching depiction of helplessness and solitude, and the next he’s got the audience in fits of laughter as he baffles Desert Man with his ‘street talk’ (Innit blud).

The a cappella musical numbers in the show may have been a little repetitive, but their execution was outstanding. This touring show manages to mingle complexity and darkness with humour and hope.

Adebayo succeeds in brilliantly layering this male-driven drama with subtexts of feminism and motherhood, which makes the story all the more real, and the message more gripping.

“Boys and men also suffer the consequences of male arrogance, apathy and men not taking responsibility,” Adebayo explains. “My challenge is how to write honestly in a male voice from a feminist perspective.”


For show times and tickets please contact individual venues:
London: The Albany
28 April-15 May

Manchester: Contact Theatre
26 May-27 May

Bath: Theatre Royal Bath- Ustinov Studio
28 May-29 May

Bracknell: South Hill Park
1 June-2 June

Watford: Watford Palace Theatre
3 June-5 June

Birmingham: The Birmingham Rep- The Door, Part of BASS Festival
10 June-12 June

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