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Still here: While They Were Waiting - Upstairs At The Gatehouse

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As the song goes, time heals everything. Or as another song says, it's time after time. Yet waiting—for a moment, a minute, or even a while—can feel like a chore. In Gary Wilmot’s slightly absurd and silly While They Were Waiting, the focus is on waiting and wordplay. No opportunity is missed to find more than one meaning in what is said. A debate arises about the difference between a smidge and a whisker. There's a playful riff on how you can be here and over there at the same time, depending on your standpoint. If this piece has a point at all, it depends on what you find funny. The concept of waiting-related language is, in itself, amusing, and there is plenty to laugh about in this show. It’s currently playing at Upstairs at the Gatehouse . The premise is simple: Mulbery (Steve Furst) arrives for an appointment and is kept waiting. What the appointment is for, we are not clear about but he is waiting for a yellow door to open. Nobody answers when he rings. He’s joined by th...

Lonely Town: The Lonely Londoners @JSTheatre


Sam Selvon’s novel about the Windrush generation comes to vivid life in this flashy adaptation by Roy Williams—the hustle and the struggle contrast with the exuberant joy and acclamation of life in the city. Lights flash, feet dance, and pigeons get strangled...  for food. It’s an hour and forty-five minutes that doesn’t let up, and it is currently playing at the Jermyn Street Theatre. 

Set in 1956 London, we meet Henry “Sir Galahad” Oliver (Romario Simpson). He is in a hurry to start a new life in London and seeks out Moses Aloetta (Gamba Cole) to help him get started. Only to find that Moses and his friends have become disillusioned with city life and don’t share his enthusiasm. The fights, the petty discrimination, and the lack of job offers make it an endless struggle. And it’s fascinating to see the transformation of Simpson as he gets worn down by the endless setbacks. 


It’s a simple yet stylish production, with the cast remaining onstage with a black wall. Elliot Griggs’ lighting serves to give the vibrancy of the city, underscore the drama and spell out the various postcodes as they move about London.

The simple staging allows the focus to be on the finely drawn characters. The ensemble brings them to life and makes them storytellers, witnesses to injustice, and celebrators of the rich life of living in London.

Events move at a clip, and while violence and discrimination are always nearby, there is also humour and warmth that comes through as the men bond and create their sense of family and place. By the time the piece ends, the discussion about leaving London is brief. After all, despite the odds, they have made a life here and created something out of nothing. 

Directed by Ebenezer Bamgboye, The Lonely Londoners is at the Jermyn Street Theatre until 5 March.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️



Photos by Alex Brenner

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