The Bunker Theatre – until 21 December 2019
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
Little Miss Burden is a vibrant celebration of sisterhood and triumph over adversity, inspired by writer Matilda Ibini’s own experiences. Little Miss (Saida Ahmad), Big Sis (Michelle Tiwo) and Little Sis (Ani Nelson) share an unbreakable bond growing up in 90s London as Little Miss’s physical condition worsens and the family go through tests, treatments and diagnoses together. Ahmed is a force of nature as Little Miss, magnetic and hilarious, and Tiwo and Nelson give astonishing performances full of energy and passion.
Staging the play on a paint splattered set resembling children’s TV show and introducing Little Miss as a Mr Men character sets the tone beautifully, allowing the darker, more troublesome events to make a huge impact, but never overshadow the upbeat joy of Little Miss’s story. Tiwo and Nelson play a multitude of roles that bring shrieks of delighted recognition from the audience, from Nelson’s beautifully realised Nigerian mother to Tiwo’s pastor, the two actors slip effortlessly between the colourful characters in the family’s life. It takes a long time for Little Miss to be diagnosed with LGMD, and until the diagnosis, the word disabled is beeped out because of all the negative connotations dreaded by their mother.
We watch as the family go to church praying for a cure, travel to Nigeria hoping that traditional medicine will help, and finally resort to a medical procedure. Throughout it all the cast impishly mock the various characters, encouraging and reacting to audience interaction brilliantly. Punctuated by the three breaking into dance routines to 90s classics, the mood is playful and warm, only reminding the audience of the obstacles put in families’ way when medical and education professionals talk about and to Little Miss in a truly dehumanising manner. Ibini emphasise the power of language to harm and heal – the loving and well-meaning mum’s prayers and constant search for a cure making Little Miss feel as if she’s letting her down, the racist, cruel words of school children and the mechanical, cold language of clinicians, tempered by the naïve but supporting and loving words of her friends and sisters. Ibini personifies Little Miss’s mental difficulties, with Tiwo becoming a chilling embodiment of Depression and Nelson a jittery version of Anxiety, but she also gives her condition a voice – allowing Little Miss to have brutal arguments with LGMD and portraying her long journey to acceptance in a visceral and heart-breaking style.
The fantastically upbeat final song gets everybody on their feet and then the cast land an emotional and empowering sucker punch of a speech about disabled rights that will have you in tears. Simply brilliant.