Not Black And White: Category B
Roy Williams
|
Omniscore:
|
| Location |
London |
| Venue |
Tricycle Theatre |
| Director |
Paulette Randall |
| Cast |
Aml Ameen, John Boyega, Karl Collins, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Abhin Galeya, Jaye Griffiths, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Amelia Lowdell, Cecilia Noble, Rebecca Scroggs, Robert Whitelock Jimmy Akingbola |
| From |
October 2009 |
| Until |
December 2009 |
| Box Office |
020 7328 1000 |
| |
“No one wants to go to a Cat B prison, no-one wants to come here, prisoners and screws alike.” Saul runs a tip-top wing - the screws love him for it, especially Angela. Prisoners follow his rules, and it’s all gravy. But Saul’s number two position is vacant, new inmates are flooding in, so everyone’s feeling the heat. Errol could fill the gap, but he’s up for parole in 6 weeks, and new kid Rio’s rocking the boat. No-one wants to go to Cat B, but the world on the outside is a different story.
Reviews
The Guardian
Michael Billington
"Odd technical flaws aside, this remains a chilling portrait of a collapsing system kept going only through the tacit co-operation of warders and prisoners... Paulette Randall's production, like the play, steers admirably clear of convention"
13/10/2009
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The Daily Telegraph
Charles Spencer
"Imagine the Shawshank Redemption, without the sentimentality, or indeed the redemption, and you will get some idea of the flavour of Paulette Randall’s hard-hitting, superbly-acted production... Category B is a harrowing play, but one shot through with both dark humour and tentative flickers of hope. "
13/10/2009
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The Times
Maxie Szalwinska
"Paulette Randall’s well-cast production is rich in urban angst. Sharon Duncan-Brewster comes off well as a ballsy prison officer, as does Karl Collins, playing a crafty con. Aml Ameen brings out the vulnerability beneath a new inmate’s hard-guy poses. Williams clearly hopes that familiarity with the realities of our overcrowded criminal justice system will breed contempt for it, but his play is so awash with issues, it can’t help but slip into soap."
18/10/2009
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The Evening Standard
Henry Hitchings
"Paulette Randall’s production could do with more pace; at times it lumbers... But, vitally, the writing is direct. It conveys the almost banal menace of prison and attacks the myopia that leads many young black men to end up there. And, if this is a drama with few real surprises, that’s because Williams is taking aim at the tyranny of the inevitable."
13/10/2009
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