Review: AUGUST IN ENGLAND, Bush Theatre

Sir Lenny Henry is quite the polymath; from the days of winning TV talent show New Faces, to Tiswas, to being co-founder of Comic Relief, he has also shown some serious acting chops in roles such as Othello and starring in Amazon's Lord of the Rings. He now has a degree, MA and doctorate, as well as being a lifelong campaigner for racial equality and justice. August in England is his first writing credit for a stage play and what a debut it is.

In a funny, sentimental and hugely affecting 90 minutes, Henry introduces himself as August Henderson: a man who came to England on his mother's passport aged eight, as part of the Windrush generation. He recalls his life from arriving, through school, family illness, children and relationships. Part owner of a greengrocers and lover of West Bromwich Albion, with a seemingly normal life, he is confronted by the possibility he may have to leave his country; forced out by a government who suddenly do not recognise him as a British citizen.

Co-directed by Bush Artistic Director Lynette Linton and Associate Artistic Director Daniel Bailey, the audience is immersed in the quotidian; August is affable, energetic, witty and also fallible. In other words, he is human and this is what is at the heart of this production; giving a face and a voice to this very real and current tragedy of our times.

We get to know the man, his faults exposed alongside a countdown for his possible expulsion flickering with growing insistence, with images of what we realise is August in a holding cell projected on the back wall of Natalie Price's naturalistic living-room set. Duramaney Kamara's thoughtfully constructed sound design provides us with a poignant and engaging soundtrack to August's life.

August himself crams in details of his life and his loves, as though desperate to tell all his anecdotes before he is forced to leave. There are constant references to time passing; his band breaks up, his parents pass on, his three kids grow up in an instant and his love life evolves. Brown envelopes contain unwelcome bills, until they contain something far more sinister.

For many of us, so familiar with his work, it is often hard to differentiate between Henry the actor and Henry the stand-up here. He shows a warm, naturally comedic ease that comes from years performing in front of live audiences, showcasing his natural Brummie accent, laced with a warm Jamaican patois. His Irish accent is not so successful, but this is easily forgiven by how engaging and hugely entertaining he comes across. He vividly shows how a young black man tries to figure out his identity and then an older man tries to live an everyday life in a hostile environment. The quieter moments of dark despair he shows are a revelation.

Henry's family arrived in the UK in 1957; he was the first of his family to be born in the UK, but still faced overt racism and prejudice. What we see on stage is lived experience. He also played an older man facing the same issues in Cyrus 2011-A Windrush Chronicle, shown on the BBC in 2019. This, along with Amelia Gentleman's (who is Windrush consultant here) excoriating investigation into the Windrush victims inspired this play.

The running time could be cut by 15 minutes and the ending feels, perhaps necessarily, awkward, but the message of the production and the righteous anger at the unjustness of the whole scandal will stay with you long after you leave the theatre.

August in England runs at the Bush Theatre until 10 June

Photo Credit: Tristram Kenton

To post a comment, you must register and login.