Royal Court Theatre – until 21st December 2024
Reviewed by Jackie Thornton
4****
There is nothing more to conquer than your mind. That about sums up actress and singer Sutura Gayle AKA Lorna Gee’s breathtaking spiritual journey through her fragmented memories and checkered history as she searches for her true identity. Persuaded into a ten-day silent retreat in India by her brother, for the first time in her life Sumatra was confronted by her noisy mind and the resurfacing of both painful and joyous experiences, long forgotten. It became the inspiration for this 70-minute genre-defying show that rejects the comfortable notion of a biopic and sees Sutura employ her vast vocal skills and range to not only bring her own story into being but also that of her family.
A gifted mimic, it’s a delight to witness Sutura flipping from her Jamaican mother’s patois to clipped voices of white RP authority to gritty reggae and rapping. The rich and varied soundtrack adds further texture to Sutura’s vocals: lulling, accosting, galvanising.
Developed with associate producer Martina Laird and director Jo McInnes, The Legends of Them rejects dramaturgical conventions and in some ways is closer to watching an experimental film than a play. The audience is asked to cut quickly between wide shots and close ups, taking in projected footage of newsreel and home videos and absorb black and red engulfing the stage, as the story seeks to echo the fleeting, dizzy and fragmented nature of our thought patterns. Indeed, its creators emphasise how this is not an intellectual but rather a vibrational piece of theatre, where we might come to find deeper meaning in the sum of its parts and in allowing the rich soundtrack, energy and tapestry of images to simply wash over us. That’s not to say that it does not evoke strong, difficult and possibly triggering emotions while spotlighting racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, the legacy of slavery and the Windrush generation.
The Legends of Them challenges with its form, delights with its musical prowess and answers the question of whether it’s possible to put spiritual stories on stage with a resounding yes.