|
|
Article: Cooking up a storm; Black British writing is thriving in the subsidised theatre. But how will Elmina's Kitchen, opening tonight, fare in the commercial West End?
- Article from:
- The Evening Standard (London, England)
- Article date:
- April 26, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Byline: ALEKS SIERZ
FOR years, the West End has been a no-go area for black British drama.
Black Americans yes, but not the home-grown variety. Now, suddenly, two shows arrive at the same time.
Kwame Kwei-Armah's Elmina's Kitchen opens tonight at the Garrick, and, next month, The Big Life sails into the Apollo Theatre.
For all their differences - Elmina's Kitchen is a hard-hitting drama about gun crime in Hackney's Murder Mile while The Big Life is a feelgood ska musical about West Indian migrants in the 1950s - both are courting a new black audience.
And it's a less reverent audience that brings with it a quite different ...