Tree at The Young Vic

Tree, currently playing at The Young Vic, elicited a lot of excitement when it was first advertised, not least because it is a collaboration between Idris Elba and the now Artistic Director of the theatre, Kwame Kwei-Armah.  In 2013, Elba returned to South Africa and created the album ‘me Mandela’ inspired by his time in the country playing Mandela and as a dedication to his late father.  His long-time friend, Kwame, inspired by the music, decided to collaborate with him to make a story about the ambition to heal, and to tell it through a combination of movement, music and drama. Following on from the initial buzz, the project then had a bout of negative publicity when Sarah Henley and Tori Allen-Martin made a claim that they conceived the project and were consequently removed from it.  And so it was that I expected much from my latest trip to The Young Vic.

Whilst there is much to be admired about Tree, it doesn’t quite live up to my expectations.  Certainly, it’s a very exciting experience, with Director Kwame Kwei-Armah and Designer Jon Bausor, turning the space into a pulsating disco, with the majority of the audience standing (or should I say dancing, at least at the start) around a large protruding stage.  For the remainder of the play, the actors effortlessly weave in and out of the audience and often seek their help with various props, helping to make the play a truly immersive piece of theatre.  As a result, the two men’s vision of creating a different kind of theatrical experience works a treat.  What it lacks, at least for me, is a strong dramatic narrative and the presence of the ushers, directing the crowd, whilst necessary, is rather distracting.

The story is based around Kaelo (the excellent Alfred Enoch), a Londoner born to an Afrikaner mother and black father.  On the death of his mother Cezanne (Lucy Briggs-Owen) Kaelo decides to visit South Africa (the land of her birth) to scatter her ashes, discover his roots and learn the truth about his father.  He stays with his tough Afrikaner grand-mother (Sinead Cusack at her belligerent best), meets up with his ferocious half-sister, Ofentse (a very sparky Joan Iyiola) and finds out how he, as a mixed-race man is viewed in a country that has known much violence and many divisions.

What helps to make the piece very affecting is the excellence of the choreography by Gregory Maqoma, the visuals by Projection Designer Duncan McLean and the attendant music by Michael ‘Mikey’ J’ Asante.  And the final flourish of the erection of the symbolic tree is spot on.  It’s just a shame that there isn’t even more music and that the script doesn’t quite match the visuals.  One wonders about the quality of the two beleaguered women’s narrative …..