MILES at Southwark Playhouse (Borough) Review
Written by Annie for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
After a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe last year, Oliver Kaderbhai’s powerful play ‘Miles’ has landed at Southwark Playhouse to continue its successful streak. Opening with a beautifully memorable scene, the show asserts its dominance from the start, hooking the audience immediately. A single man struggles whilst lying on top of a piano - instantly linking the body and music, and leaving us questioning if it is a passion or pain that the man is fighting.
Quickly learning that the man is none other than Miles Davis (portrayed excellently by Benjamin Akintuyosi), around whom our story is somewhat centered. Although it roughly follows Miles as he struggles to write his infamous album Kind of Blue, the musician appears across two time periods, his own and as a spiritual figure in 2026, as a sort of mentor to Jay, a newly signed artist at the same record label. The duo discusses in both adoration and anguish the process of writing music, and the story follows this conversation throughout.
Jay - portrayed by real-life musician Jay Phelps - struggles to find his own voice for his music, and turns to Miles to guide him through his struggles with creativity, risk and identity. The interpretation of Miles is a lovely expression of a famous figure - not taken too literally, but instead used to aid the message, but at times classic tropes are relied on to push the story (such as Davis’ drug addiction or adjustment into a parental role) which feel slightly more forced than the natural ease of the dialogue between Miles and Jay elsewhere.
Akintuyosi encapsulates the iconic raspy voice of Davis excellently - honouring his legacy without seeming like an imitation. He performs with natural suave and confidence. His portrayal is contemporary yet feels familiar, and makes the space a wonderfully comfortable experience. Merging prose, music, and at times dance, the show has a wonderful pace and movement.
What the script does do magnificently, however, is blend story, dialogue, and music together with ease. The music is constantly at the forefront of the show. Phelps’s dispute shows confident and assured acting abilities, shines with his natural musicality, performing sublime solo pieces, honouring the great jazz age warmth, and putting the audience under a trance with the smooth harmonies. The conversation between the music and Davis’ influences to create his music are blended wonderfully together, so much so that the script and score seem entirely as one piece of paper.
Projections (by Colin J Smith) are used throughout to show the figures behind Davis’ influences - in both his music and his life, and add another layer to the show, giving more authenticity as well as honour to the people in question. Although the projections at times are slightly difficult to see, depending on where you are sitting, they overall aid the story nicely. Mirroring this is the lighting design by Alex Lewer, which masterfully aids the story and adds height and power to prominent moments. The level and complexity of the lighting in the show is hugely impressive for the scale of the production and gives the show a beautifully polished and caring finish.
Oliver Kaderbhai’s work is a beautiful masterpiece, both dynamic and complex, it has excellent pace and the 90 minutes fly by. It is a homage to the jazz era without the rose-tinted glasses, and instead honours the challenges of both Davis and modern music making. It perfectly displays the ambitions, contradictions and challenges of what it means to be an artist, and honours those who have come before.
‘Miles’play at the Southwark Playhouse until 7th March
★★★★
