Recognition review

“A fitting tribute”

ReviewsJun 6, 2023by JN BenjaminTalawa Studios, Fairfield Halls, Croydon

Paul Adeyefa (centre) in Recognition at Talawa Studios, Fairfield Halls. Photo: Gifty Dzenyo

Amanda Wilkin and Rachel Nanyonjo stage a beautiful tribute to Croydon local and internationally acclaimed musician, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

There are two narratives that run side by side in Amanda Wilkin’s new play. The first is about 19th-century British composer and conductor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (played by Paul Adeyefa), and how he came to be a composer and conductor of international acclaim. It tells the story of his life, from the playgrounds of his early years, where a fascination with his afro caused the other children to set fire to it so they could see if and how it would burn, to being conned out of the rights to his most successful musical creation, right up to his premature death at the age of 37 following a sudden collapse at West Croydon train station.

The second narrative centres on a Black woman, Song (Kibong Tanji), who, in the present day, is studying for a degree in musical composition. Her frustration with a curriculum that forces her to study only the work of white men leads her to Coleridge-Taylor and the discovery ignites a passion in her. Just as he was, she is struggling to fit in with the rigid traditions of the classical-music world. And like him, she is told she must grow a thick skin if she hopes to achieve success. Their two stories interweave to create a bleak picture of a century of stagnation in both attitudes and in progress.

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Shedding a Skin

The play marks Wilkin’s authorial return to the UK stage following the success of her 2020 Verity Bargate award-winning work Shedding a Skin. This piece is more thematically busy and perhaps lacks the sense of assurance of her previous work. Some of the storytelling occasionally feels compromised by enthusiastic attempts to tackle hefty subject matter in a short space of time. It is at its most elegant when the characters are trusted with, and in command of, the story.

Director Rachael Nanyonjo – who was notably movement director on Arinzé Kene’s critically acclaimed Misty – combines text, music, choreography and dance in her production. The staging is supported by Jasmine Swan’s modular set design of mirrored blocks, which are moved around the space to create desks, sofas and a conductor’s plinth.

Recognition originally premiered as an audio play in February 2021, and there’s something very beautiful about its return being staged at this Croydon venue; the home of Talawa, it stands almost exactly a mile from where Coleridge-Taylor lived on St Leonard’s Road. This version features a band of musicians – including a string quartet – who play his compositions throughout. It’s a fitting tribute for a true local legend.

Production Details

VenueTalawa Studios, Fairfield Halls

LocationCroydon

Starts01/06/2023

Ends24/06/2023

Press night05/06/2023

Running time2hrs

AuthorAmanda Wilkin

ComposerCassie Kinoshi, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

DramaturgElayce Ismail

DirectorRachael Nanyonjo

Assistant directorLydia Luke