Firecracker of a Social Drama is Not To Be Missed

Daniel J.Carver as Malcolm. Photo by Nicola Young Photography.

Revealed by Daniel J Carver. Directed by Jay Zorenti-Nakhid. At the B2 venue, Belgrade Theatre, from Friday 18 October to Saturday 2 November.

Review by Annette Kinsella

The temperature is dropping, the nights are drawing in…so our thoughts will soon be turning to turkey, tinsel, and all things festive. Which for most of us will mean the traditional Family Row. Whenever relatives gather in close proximity, it is a prime opportunity to reignite the embers of old feuds, or to generate new exciting ones destined to smoulder through the year. Light the touchpaper and dash for cover.

However, it’s not just Christmas that can set the stage for cross-generational chest beating, as the new production at the Belgrade Theatre can testify. Directed by Jay Zorenti-Nakhid, Revealed centres on a national emergency, which forces British teenager Luther, his father Malcolm and Jamaican-born granddad Sidney to take shelter in their Caribbean restaurant overnight.

Jayden Hanley, Everal A. Walsh, Daniel J. Carver. Photo by Nicola Young Photography.

Levity aside, the show is amazingly prescient. At a time when trust in the police is plummeting, the emergency explodes in a night of violence across the country, triggered by the critical injury of a young Black man sustained while in custody. The dialogue is punctuated throughout by blasts, flashes and noise of a baying mob as buildings and cars are firebombed, windows are smashed and shops are looted. With more than a nod to Spike Lee’s 1989 stone cold classic Do The Right Thing, the pressure cooker outside keeps pace with rising tensions inside the café as secrets are revealed, truths must be faced and anger sparks with a kick matched by the Wray and Nephew rum swigged by Sidney to calm his nerves.

Despite the pivotal plot point, this show is not so much about racism as community and the people who shape it. The restaurant becomes a microcosm of society, as Generation Alpha Luther asserts their identity and sexuality against resistance from Baby Boomer Malcolm and fortitude from Silent Generation Sidney. The angry young man trope is cleverly subverted as Malcom, played with seething fury by Daniel J Carver (also the play’s writer), advocates rebellion and violence, while adolescent Luther (a cherubic Jaydon Hanley) pleads for calm and acceptance. Overseeing them all is stoical Sidney (Everal A Walsh), trying desperately to keep the peace while harbouring an earth-shattering secret of his own.

Everal A.Walsh, Jayden Hanley. Photo by Nicola Young Photography.

In spite of the static nature of the set – the action never strays from the restaurant – the second half in particular is full of action and the will they/ won’t they cliffhanger of the big reveal kept the audience on its toes until the end.

Ultimately Revealed, while undoubtedly funny, is a poignant testament to how the burden of history moulds our own self-perceptions, and in turn sets enduring patterns for relationships which seem impossible to break. To return to the Christmas analogy, this is an explosive (fire) cracker of a social drama and not to be missed.

Book tickets:  https://www.belgrade.co.uk/events/revealed/