One Way Out at Brixton House Review
Written by Sarah for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
One Way Out is a 90-minute fairground ride with a group of south London youth; the fun, the fantasy and the fates of 4 friends, in what is billed as a ‘coming of age’ drama. It is, however, much richer, funnier and more nuanced than promised; a deeply political, passionate and well-constructed piece of writing, executed with vigour and heart.
Teenage boys often receive bad press, especially male urban youth. This production shows the humans behind the hoodies and headlines in a celebration of everything it means to be young, dumb and just 18. Except these lads are far from dumb: Devonte, Paul, Tunde, and Salim are celebrating finishing their A-levels and are faced with tough decisions about their futures, whilst trying to sneak booze out of the drinks cabinet without getting noticed.
The story begins with a broken window at school, exams, the closure of their youth club, and Tundae’s Fanta-fueled 18th birthday party. The narrative of these boys' lives is rich and cleverly crafted, but the central focus is on Devonte, Caribbean-born and London-raised, who comes to the attention of the immigration service. He faces deportation when it comes to light that his status was never registered by his aunt when he arrived in the UK at just 10 years old. The political issues in this rich cultural community are numerous, interconnected and heartbreaking when they are framed in the context of these ride-or-die friendships.
One of the shining strengths of this production is the connections between the characters, their love for each other, and their celebration and suffering with each other. Their energy invigorates the auditorium, and the fully rounded characters are vibrant and charming. Such is the celebratory atmosphere of Tunde’s birthday party, the audience is cheering, and applauding and doesn’t miss a beat when Salim shouts “Ogi, ogi, ogi”, instantly responding with “Oi, oi, oi”! The audience is fully invested in the characters, and their struggles are painful to witness.
The actors work brilliantly as an ensemble, sharing a genuine connection and the audience. Joshua-Alexander Williams as Devonte, David Alade as Paul, Adam Seridji as Salim, and Joe Deighton as Tunde all give endearing, stand-out performances. Montel Douglas’ writing provides solid, 3 dimensional characters and a cleverly constructed narrative. His directing and choreography are tight yet full of passion. The lighting by Jamiko Marshall and the composition and sound by Francesca Amewuda-Rivers enhance the atmosphere and infuse the piece with tempo and texture.
Towards the end of the play, the characters ' journeys begin to feel slightly over-explained. It doesn’t feel necessary to follow them all through the period of transition in their lives once the story focuses more on Devonte's deportation. It only starts to feel slightly contrived in contrast to the rest of the play which has been delicately honed.
This is an electrifying piece of theatre that is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching. It is almost unbelievable that this is Douglas's first play. The hope is for as wide an audience as possible to see it, but the question remains: how do we persuade politicians and policymakers to leave the comfort of Westminster? Perhaps One Way Out should be presented to them.
One Way Out plays at Brixton House until 5 July
★★★★
