ANDY HEDGECOCK is entertained by a playful novel that embeds a fictional game at its heart
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Little Baby Jesus, Orange Tree Theatre Richmond
Early work by Arinze Kene disappoints
Excelling: The cast of Little Baby Jesus
[Ali Wright]
Death comes for Liberals, entitled murder, Vatican hit squads, and fraternising with the Blitz killer
New releases from Public Image Ltd, William Basinski, and John Luther Adams
GABRIELE NEHER draws attention to an astoundingly skilled Flemish painter who defied the notion that women cannot paint like men
The Bard pays homage to Hull’s finest promoter and venue, and awards Douze Points to Laibach
KEVIN DONNELLY outlines how the bourgeois institutions inhibit our ability to to view art in revolutionary ways, and suggests some tactics to overturn it
ALTHOUGH the award-winning Misty was Arinze Kene’s fifth professionally staged play in a remarkable career for someone aged just 32, it felt like a breakthrough moment for him when it burst — quite literally — onto the stage of London’s Bush Theatre last spring.
Its raw power may have been the catalyst for Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu’s decision to direct Kene’s 2011 play Little Baby Jesus. Sadly, it’s a bad choice.
A pulsating nostalgia trip of a first half yanks the audience into the world of three North London teenagers, Kehinde (Anyebe Godwin), Joanne (Rachel Nwokoro) and Rugrat (Khai Shaw). It’s one in which adolescent angst, bravado and unfiltered piss-taking contrasts with intricate racial prejudices and the mental health issues of multiple family members.
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