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Lanre Malaolu uses monologue, hip-hop dance and physical theatre to show the realities of being a Black British man in the 21st century. In his new play Now, I See, he continues using these techniques by focussing on estranged brothers who reunite for their brother’s funeral.
Adeyeye (Tendai Humphrey Sitima) was the only sibling of the three to have sickle cell, a genetic condition that is more common in Black communities. Having a condition that can cause extreme fatigue and pain is life-changing not only for Adeyeye but for the whole family – especially for his brothers, whose rough-and-tumble lives as children could exacerbate Adeyeye’s condition.
As adults, Nnabiko Ejimofor’s Dayo projects a sense of happy innocence that is a stark contrast of the stiff older brother Kieron’s (Oliver Alvin-Wilson), personality who left home at 21 and is happily working as a teacher. Around them Sitima is a physical reminder of the weight that Adeyeye places on both the surviving brothers’ hearts.
With Malaolu combining character monologues into the dialogue, we see how the two brothers reveal aspects of their life with a sick brother that they could not tell each other. We see a sense of the younger Kieron’s bitterness at how Adeyeye’s condition meant he was the centre of attention on his older brother’s birthday and how his two younger siblings were much more closer, than he was of him.
Written by Nura Arooj
