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THE BIG LIFE
Matt Taylor takes a sneak preview at what other magazines will all be
claiming they discovered in just a few months’ time. As brand-new, all-black,
ska musical, The Big Life, prepares to transfer from the Theatre Royal
Stratford East to London’s West End.
Sibyl – with whom the men’s resolve soon begins
to crumble. One of the triumphs of The Big Life –
named after a quote from Sam Selvon’s 1956
novel The Lonely Londoners – is the subtle way in
which Sirett and Joseph capture the heart-breaking
moments of crushed dreams, thoughtless racism
and deprivation suffered by their characters whilst
never portraying them as victims and never
allowing them to lose all hope of finding
happiness in a new country.
signs stating ‘No Dogs, No Blacks, No Irish’
might as well be hung on the door to the labour
exchange as well, leaving them desperately
scraping by with casual manual labouring jobs
at best. All this is carefully reflected in Gerry
Jenkinson’s thoughtful lighting design which
moves between the warm happy reds yellows and
oranges of island life in the Caribbean to a harsh
sobering grey winter light that foreshadows the
long struggles ahead.
As the curtain rises, we find ourselves looking
over the ship’s rail at the assembled passengers
who have just had their first sighting of British
shores. There’s no doubt that it’s the 1950s, with
horn-rimmed spectacles, sensible heels, camel-hair
coats, raffia handbags and hats for everyone in
great abundance. The men and women are
discussing the kinds of professions they are hoping
to enter in London. Sybil wants to be a secretary,
Ferdy a philosophy teacher, Bernie a civil engineer,
and Lennie a car mechanic. According to the
opening song they ‘Kyan wait to get to Inglan,’
but little do they suspect that the boarding house
As proof that the show is one of hope rather than
of despair, the tightly-written script soon begins
to deliver some of its many witty remarks. “I hear
they have White Christmas,” says Lennie. “Well
of course man,” says Dennis without pausing for
breath, “White people: White Christmas!”
One of the many unexpected treasures of The
Big Life is the novel use of an audience-membernarrator in the comic persona of Mrs Aphrodite,
played brilliantly by Tameka Empson, most recently
seen on BBC television as one of the hell-raising
3 Non-Blondes. This seemingly respectable »