G, Royal Court Theatre Review
Photo by Isha Shah Photography
Written by Jasmine for Theatre and Tonic.
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review. All opinions are our own.
The first thing you’ll notice about this show when you see it (which you should), are the white trainers that are hanging over a grave sized pit in the centre of the stage. You won’t be forgetting they’re there for the rest of the show, because the urban legend at its core is deceptively simple; if a black boy walks under the trainers without a bally, ‘Baitface’ will get you.
Without spoiling too much, if you get ‘Baitfaced’ you lose your identity, you find yourself cursed, your life suddenly falling apart under accusations you can’t disprove. Through this invented urban legend, Tife Kusoro’s G personifies the threat young black men and boys face as they come of age with frightening efficacy.
Aside from the wonderful script which is equal parts moving and funny, this production is the result of each of its different parts working together brilliantly. The actors are excellent; Baitface is genuinely terrifying and the young students are endlessly lovable, both for their incredible comic timing, and the sincerity of the teenage vulnerabilities they hide from each other. So much of the power of this show lies in the affection you cannot help but feel for these three truly unique characters, and how natural all of their dialogue feels without at any point losing either its sense of humour or its depth.
The more surreal/movement based sequences sequences are slick and interesting to watch, creating dream-like moments where unnatural movement blends with more naturalistic dialogue, as CCTV technology and news reports surround them, and Baitface is always just a few steps behind them. Projections are used on the traverse stage to blend the outside world into the show and the set constantly finds new heights and hiding spots for Baitface to appear through, adding to the sense of his inescapability.
The lighting also works well with the long stage as the lighting bars above the stage create additional movement and scale - it works particularly well in the more ominous sections to create a sense of overwhelming pressure coming at the three school kids. Similarly, the blasting music and news reporting adds to this overwhelm, but what actually really struck me about the sound was how often it would be present in even the quiet moments, creating the sounds of a school playground or even just white noise that added to the growing tension.
It speaks to Monique Touko’s incredible direction that so many different elements have been brought together in such a way that you never feel it is overcrowded, but rather feel like there is a sense of urgency that hooks you from the first moment all the way through to the end.
Some things do feel a little unclear within the logic of the urban legend itself, and the ending doesn’t resolve all of it perfectly, but that doesn’t undermine how effective the show is, as you are still left in no doubt about what it wants to tell us. Fundamentally, it shows us how easily things can spiral and wreck the lives of black teenagers when people are pre-disposed to thinking the worst of them (in other words, racist), how this leads even the most innocent moments being construed as dangerous.
It is a show that will make you angry, and a show that should make you question what can you be doing to challenge a society that wants to ‘Baitface’ young black people. Tife Kusoro has just done an incredible job presenting the way things are in ‘G’, it is now your job to go and see it.
At Royal Court Theatre until 21 September.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
