Review by Sam Waite
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A workplace dramedy about tailors in then-contemporary London, Michael Abbensetts’ Alterations continued the playwright’s introduction of Caribbean voices and stories into British theatre and television. Despite the positive response to his short-lived BBC series, Empire Road, and a self-adapted radio version of Alterations in the early 80s, the show had not been staged in the UK since its 1978 premiere run. This first revival, helmed by director Lynette Linton, moves the work from the 80-seat theatre of that first run, to the grandeur of the National Theatre while demonstrating how blisteringly relevant its then-current themes remain.
In a tailor shop on Carnaby Street, aspiring businessman Walker juggles the store, his wife, his girlfriend, and the enormous order he has just taken on as a way of quickly securing the down-payment to own his business outright. Self-made Mr Nat has tasked him and partner Buster with altering a seemingly endless assortment of trousers, and the pair will need to work all day and night to ensure success. With back and forth help and hindrance from frenemy Horace, delivery driver Courtney, and neglected wife Darlene – not to mention Buster’s frequent phone calls to see whether his unseen wife has given birth yet – the task seems totally achievable… or utterly impossible.
It's easy to see how the intimacy of the since-closed New End Theatre served Alterations – the entire play is set within the titular shop, moving only from the main space to a cramped back office, and once briefly only steps beyond the front door. Not unlike her previous National Theatre production, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Linton makes good use of a revolve to allow for freedom of movement through Frankie Bradshaw’s appropriately busy set. In moments where Walker drifts into fantasy, additional staging glides in from the wings and descends from behind the proscenium, adding a grandeur to his vision that serves the production well, and makes strong use of the additional space afforded. Bradshaw adorns the small shop with half-empty clothes racks and a cluttered sink for the staff, scattering just enough debris to make Alterations feel lived-in and worked-in.
Abbensetts’ script could (and likely will, for some) pass as a period piece written far more recently, simply for how relevant and poignant its themes around identity and the generational drive for success remain. Each character, we gradually learn, is driven by their relationship to both their place of birth, and to the country they now call home. Even Courtney, barely an adult and the one Black character with a native Londoner’s accent, finds themselves tied up in the expectation of young Black men, while Walker’s self-centred determination is the product of his having left home with the aim of creating a better life. While additional material, credited to Trish Cooke, may have helped expand the piece for this larger-scale production, the unique voice and command of themes are vividly Abbensetts’.
A male-dominated play, Alterations has a strong trump card in the shape of Cherrelle Skeete, whose work as Walker’s much-maligned wife is extremely powerful. Newly fired for the amount of work missed to care for their child single-handedly, Darlene must balance a sense of obligation to her husband and a resentment at herself and their daughter’s seeming non-existent in Walker’s dreams of grandeur, a delicate dichotomy which Skeete is able to portray seamlessly. Also very good at presenting resentment for Walker is Karl Collins’ Horace, with Collins finding the right blend of playful banter and genuine disdain to set up the two’s complicated, increasingly combative dynamic.
As Walker himself, Arinzé Kene winning runs the emotional gamut from an elated dreamer to a decimated, truly exhausted man trying to prove himself in a world stacked against him. So charming a stage presence is Kene, that it's easy initially to overlook just how unlikable Walker can be – he merrily overworks the staff, seems more than prepared to hog all the glory, and is unashamed of his affair with an unseen white woman. Kene brings particular vulnerability to conversations with wealthy Mr Nat, who Colin Mace grants the right level of pomposity to establish how much easier his “coming from nothing” story is from Walker’s – in a play that doesn't beat the audience over the head with this idea, his work truly helps to land this crucial point. Personally, I wouldn't have minded a more blunted version of this comparison, though I do appreciate not only how difficult a sell this could be for some, but also the conviction and passion of the performances and direction in still having it perfectly clear in the work.
Indeed, the principal cast are wonderful across the board. Young Courtney serves to anchor the piece’s exploration of generational differences between those who can to the UK for opportunities and those who were raised here as a result, aided greatly by Raphel Famotibe’s grounded, natural performance. Completing the workplace team is father-to-be Buster, played by Gershwyn Eustache Jnr, so effortless in his comedy, and so believable in his buried frustrations. To modern audiences, the idea of a man calling from work to chase up the progress of his wife’s labour might seem oddly detached, but Eustache Jnr brings enough levity to the calls that we out this aside, and such genuine devotion to his work with Walker that we quickly understand how this has shaped his priorities and sense of self.
Part sitcom and part exploration of generational traumas and struggles, Alterations presents a challenge for Lynette Linton, one she is more than able to navigate. Her naturalistic approach matches that of Abbensetts’ writing, bringing her cast delicately but seamlessly through the emotional ups and downs. Particularly fun is a sequence of time passing in which brief snippets of the day’s work are shown – sometimes jovial and fun, other times violent as Walker and Horace’s tempers take over. As proven in her previous work, particularly her Alabama Sky, Linton’s directing shows a clear understanding of and connection with the stories she has opted to translate into the stage, and her efforts with Alterations continue to cement her powerful voice.
Several unsung heroes have worked behind the scenes of Alterations, including intimacy coordination (and movement direction) from Shelley Maxwell, helping to create dynamic moments without compromising the cast’s comfort, with the same to be said for fight director Kate Waters. Hazel Holder’s dialect coaching helps to cement the backgrounds of these characters, giving their slips into patois a natural touch and affirming the different upbringings of Walker and Courtney, in particular. Perhaps the most welcome presence is Wabriya King, credited as a dramatherapist for the production. Where authentic stories from Black creatives are so often steeped in the profound impacts of racism and cultural division, it's truly refreshing to see written evidence that the vast and crew’s emotional well-being were given serious consideration.
A shining example of the power still to be mined from existing texts, and a brilliant showcase for why even the smallest of venues (Hampstead's since-closed New End Theatre) can be the source of bonafide classics, the National Theatre run of Alterations proves how absurd it is that this play has gone un-produced for so long. Another roaring success in Lynette Linton’s increasingly stellar repertoire, the larger scale of this production will hopefully open the door to not only more of Abbensetts’ works, but those of his contemporaries and those influenced by him. While the run time, nearly two full hours without an interval, will prove challenging for some (and there is certainly a point where one could naturally be inserted)and the slice-of/life elements may garner mixed reactions, the strength of the storytellingl, the creative team, and the cast, is undeniable.
Alterations plays at the Lyttleton Theatre at the National Theatre until April 5th
For tickets and information visit https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/alterations/
Photos by Marc Brenner