InterviewsThe Director : Angus Jackson 12The Company Manager : Graeme Braidwood 14The Scenic Designer : David Williams 16The Writer and Actor : Kwame Kwei-Armah 18
Further work and discussionFor Discussion 19Practical Exercises 20Written Work and Research 21
Education
A play by Kwame Kwei-Armah
Elmina’sKitchen
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TOURING CAST: (IN ORDER OF SPEAKING)
Digger : Shaun ParkesDeli : Kwame Kwei-ArmahAshley, Deli’s son :Michael ObioraBaygee : Oscar JamesClifton : Don WarringtonAnastasia : Doña Croll
UNDERSTUDIES
Anastasia : Donna BerlinClifton, Baygee : John AdewoleDeli, Digger, Ashley : Gary Lawrence
The production opened at Birmingham Rep on25 February 2005 before touring the UK.
The Play
Don Warrington (Clifton) in rehearsal
Photo: Catherine Ashmore
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ACT 1, SCENE 1It’s a rainy Tuesday afternoon in ‘Elmina’sKitchen’, a scruffy, not very popular WestIndian takeaway in Hackney, North London.DELI, the proprietor, is excited that his olderbrother, Dougie, is due out of prison and chatsabout this with his old friend, DIGGER, a localsmall time gangster, or ’Yardie’, who passeshis time in Deli’s restaurant. ASHLEY, Deli’steenage son, comes into the restaurant angryat his dad for not having dealt properly withROY, the owner of a takeaway across the road,who has had an argument with Deli. In asnatched moment, out of his father’s earshot,Ashley asks Digger if he can join his jobs anddealings, but Digger refuses.
An older man, BAYGEE, who is a door-to-doorclothes salesman and one of Deli’s regulars,pops in for a shot of rum and is quicklyfollowed by ANASTASIA, a woman in her early40’s, who comes in to apply for the vacancy ofchef advertised in the window. After tasting themacaroni pie that she has made, Deli gives herthe job. Digger warns Deli not to be taken inby her.
ACT 1, SCENE 2Anastasia has been working at the restaurantfor a while and has helped Deli decorate theplace for Dougie’s return. Digger questions herabout her developing relationship with Deli, but
Baygee tells him to lay off. Roy is about to re-open his premises across the road as a WestIndian takeaway and therefore be in directcompetition with ‘Elmina’s Kitchen’ and Ashley,again, challenges his dad’s ability to deal withthe problem. After Deli exits to buy someplantain for his brother’s welcome home party,Ashley asks Digger for a second time if he canwork for him and this time, ends up with apunch in the face. As Anastasia cleans him upand tells him about her teenage son, Marvin,Deli rushes back with the news that Dougiehas been killed in prison, just as he was aboutto be released.
ACT 1, SCENE 3CLIFTON, Deli’s dad, has travelled over fromthe West Indies to attend his son Dougie’sfuneral. Ashley is enjoying listening to hisgrandad’s stories when Deli interrupts andoffers a cold, formal welcome to his father.After a few awkward exchanges Clifton, alonewith Deli, asks if he can stay until the funeral isover. Deli, not wanting Clifton to stay in the flatabove ‘Elmina’s Kitchen’ (which is named afterhis mother and Clifton’s estranged wife),agrees to ask his ex-wife, Ashley’s mum, ifClifton can stay with her instead.
Anastasia and Deli are left alone in therestaurant and he begins to tell her about theimpossibility of investigating Dougie’s death in
Plot Synopsis
Oscar James (Baygee), in rehearsal
Photo: Catherine Ashmore
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prison. She challenges his attitude to his life,accusing him of feeling sorry for himself andsuggesting he should ‘clean up hisenvironment’. Their tempers rise, but then Delicooks them both a plantain burger, whichinspires Anastasia to suggest that he turn therestaurant into a West Indian fast foodtakeaway. Buoyed up by the excitement,Anastasia kisses Deli, but he breaks off andtells her to wait until he is ready for arelationship. This awkward moment is brokenby Digger who comes in furious after anargument with ‘Tricky’ who he has cut with hisknife to teach him a lesson. Deli’s tolerance iswaning and he argues with Digger aboutdiscussing that sort of business in ‘Elmina’sKitchen’.
ACT 2, SCENE 1Following the funeral song at the beginning ofthe second half, the action resumes in thenewly refurbished ‘Elmina’s Plantain Hut’, atthe end of the re-opening party. Clifton, theself-declared ‘Culture master’, sings calypsosongs with Baygee and soon manoeuvreshimself into an intimate dance with Anastasia.She had hoped this would be the night thatshe and Deli would get together but this is
thwarted when Deli finds Ashley’s collegebooks in the rubbish. Deli is now keen forAnastasia, Clifton and Baygee to go home sohe can confront his son.
Ashley rushes in and Deli sits him down andgives him a burger before challenging himabout his books. This leads to a hugeargument between Deli, who is trying to turnlife around for both of them, and Ashley, whois increasingly frustrated at his father’s inabilityto take action and defend his reputation in theneighbourhood. Deli hears approaching policesirens and discovers that Ashley’s hands arecut and he has taken cocaine. It seems thatAshley has finally been accepted Digger on ajob; and soon to join it becomes apparent thathe has helped Digger to beat up Roy and setfire to his shop.
ACT 2, SCENE 2The following morning, Anastasia is late forwork and she learns from Deli about lastnight’s fire across the road. While Deli leavesthe restaurant to prepare some food forClifton, Anastasia warns Clifton not to tellanyone that they ended up spending theprevious night together. But Clifton does notagree to it and warns Anastasia that unlessshe leaves Deli alone from now on, he will telleveryone exactly what happened. Ashley appears in a flash new tracksuit,waving the keys to his new BMW, probablypaid for with the money he earned from Diggeron the previous night’s job. He has anotherrow with his father, who is furious at thedecisions Ashley is making about his life.Ashley storms out and Deli is upbraided byClifton.
ACT 2, SCENE 3Anastasia has decided to leave Deli and therestaurant. In her farewell to Deli, she revealsthat her son Marvin is dead, a secret she hadconcealed until now. Deli cannot understandwhy she is going, but of course doesn’t knowabout her night with his father, Clifton.
Doña Croll (Anastasia) in rehearsals
Photo: Catherine Ashmore
Plot Synopsis
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After she leaves, Clifton comes into therestaurant and reveals to Deli that he spent thenight with Anastasia. While Deli is still reelingfrom that news, Digger walks in and tells Delithat he has joined a rival gang, the ‘Rentoncrew’, that is demanding protection money forthe restaurant from Deli. Outraged, Deli holds aknife to Digger’s throat, tells him he will notpay and orders him to leave his son alone.
ACT 2, SCENE 4Baygee lightens the mood by telling Cliftonone of his funny stories, but this mood is soonbroken by Deli, who has returned from thepolice station. Deli tells Clifton that he andAshley are leaving Hackney and the restaurant.Clifton panics at having nowhere to stay, whichbuilds to a huge argument between father andson, with Deli releasing 18 years of pent upanger at his father. After a struggle, Cliftonwalks out. Later, Deli tells Ashley that he has informed onDigger and that if Roy dies in hospital, thepolice will be coming to arrest Digger. He
wants to use the rest of the money that Dougieleft him to flee the country with Ashley, butAshley is shocked to the core at what hisfather has done. At this point, Digger walks inand tells Deli that he cannot get away withsuch an act of betrayal. He rearranges therestaurant to give the impression that there hasbeen a struggle about drugs and then tellsAshley to earn his ‘rep’ by shooting his father.As Ashley is about to pull the trigger, Diggershoots Ashley dead, and he falls into hisfather’s arms.
Kwame Kwei-Armah (Deli) and Doña Croll
in rehearsalsPhoto: Catherine Ashmore
Plot Synopsis
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READING AND EDUCATIONThe idea of reading and self-education is animportant theme in Elmina’s Kitchen. At onetime or another during the play, all of thecharacters make reference to books, readingand learning. Baygee, in warning Digger aboutthe destructive influence that his often brutal‘Yardie’ activities have on the community, tellshim “People should always read street signs,don’t you think, Digger?” Here, he is ostensiblyreferring to the “couple of wild yard boysdriving up a one way street” that he has seen,but there is also a subtext to his comment.Throughout the play, Baygee continues totolerate Digger’s presence in the restaurantwhilst wholly disapproving of the ways inwhich he, and men like him, make their moneyand “eat up Hackney”.
When Anastasia first appears in the play, sheclutches a copy of The Celestine Prophecies,“like a bible”. The book and its teachings haveoffered her a lifeline and a coping mechanismfollowing the death of her son, Marvin. As shesays to Deli, “this is life healing stuff” and she,unknown at this point to both Deli and theaudience, is living testament to this comment.Deli picks up on Anastasia’s passion for self-discovery through reading and, as we learnfrom his scornful son Ashley, is soon reading,“all breed of self help books like you was ablasted white man.” Ashley’s comments herealso touch on the subject of education andrace, and the characters in Elmina’s Kitchenrun the full gamut of attitudes towards blackself-education within a primarily white widercommunity, from Deli’s attempts at self-improvement through a new-found willingnessto read, to Digger’s rejection of any orthodox,educated form of living his life. For Digger,education means equipping yourself with anability to survive on the mean streets that arerun by gangs and ‘crews’, as can be seenclearly in his use of language when he isupbraiding Ashley for his naïve appreciation ofhow he lives;“And you wanna be a bad man? Go back toschool, youth, and learn. You can’t just walkinto dis bad man ting, you gotta learn thewhole science of it.” (my emphasis)
Kwame Kwei-Armah continues this theme inhis next play, Fix Up – at the National Theatrein spring 2005 – in which one of the
characters, Kiyi, owns a ‘conscious’bookstore which is threatened byredevelopment. It questions further theimportance of reading and educated self-awareness within in a black community.
FATHER AND SONThere are several father and son relationshipsin the play – Clifton and Deli, Deli and Ashley,and a suggestion that Baygee has perhapsbeen something of a father to Deli in Clifton’sabsence. These relationships allow the writerto explore themes of inheritance and toexamine what is handed down and what isrejected by succeeding generations. It’sinteresting that, in this world of extendedfamily, there is never any mention of Digger’sfamily. Even Anastasia, a relative stranger tothe men who are connected with ‘Elmina’sKitchen’, makes several references to her son,Marvin. Digger stands alone in this play andeven his social ‘brother’, Deli, rejects him as hemakes efforts to change his life throughout theplay.
Deli is at pains not to play his part in arepeating cycle of history in terms of hisrelationship with his son. We learn of the built-up anger and resentment that Deli feelstowards his father from the first momentClifton arrives in the restaurant, feelings whichare given full release in their last scenetogether in the play. Perhaps the play’sgreatest tragedy is Deli’s inability to get Ashley“on line” with the ways in which he is trying toimprove both of their lives and so he, in turn,becomes a father who has failed his son, albeitin a different way to Clifton.There is a touching moment in Deli andAnastasia’s argument in Act 1, Scene 3 inwhich Anastasia, in response to Deli’sassertion that there is nothing good in his lifesays; “You have your child. Anything betterthan having your child?”This catalytic comment provides Deli with themotivation he needs to try to keep his son onthe straight and narrow, but the change comesas too much, too late. His attempts to clean upand re-decorate the restaurant are the physicalmanifestation of his attempts to make thingsbetter in life, but the stronger forces of thelawless culture that Digger embodieseventually mean that the futures of both heand his son become hopeless.
Day 1Normally we would start at 10am, but todaywe gather an hour later. Kwame has beendirecting a production of Elmina’s Kitchen inAmerica and has only just returned. Strange tohave been directing the play over there only tojourney back to be directed in a differentproduction of the same play!
Representatives from National Theatre,Birmingham Rep, the cast and productionteam assemble and exchange hellos. NicholasHytner and Jonathan Church, the respectiveArtistic Directors, say how glad they are thatthe play is being revived and then we are leftwith the usual rehearsal room personnel-thecast, director, Assistant Director, StageManager, Deputy Stage Manager and AssistantStage Manager-for a read through of thescript. As AD, I read out the stage directions.The cast are already at ease with the play and their characters, many of them having been inthe original production at the National Theatrein 2003.
In the afternoon, SM do the ‘mark up’, whichinvolves replicating the exact ground plan of
the set with coloured tape on the rehearsalroom floor, so the actors can be sure ofspacing and positioning from day one. We arelucky to already have key pieces of the set,like the food cabinets and the restaurant tablesand chairs. Bunny (Christie, the Designer) talksthrough the model box with the company,which is a 1:25 scale model replica of the setshe has designed for the production and,along with Angus, answers any questions theactors have at this stage, such as ‘Am I visiblefrom this point?’ or ‘Where is the imaginedupstairs flat in relation to the set?’
We then start the long process of slowlyworking through the scenes, reading them first,and then discussing them. Angus asks theactors a lot of ‘who, where, what, why’questions about their characters and clarifiestheir collective back stories. This is so that allof the actors are absolutely clear on keyinformation such as the biographical detail ofthe characters’ lives and where they havecome from immediately prior to any scene,which will inform the way they play thecharacter.
Meanwhile, in the production office, the SMteam have inherited the original props list fromthe first production and begin work sourcingand researching all of the props needed in theplay, from guns to Guinness punch!
Rehearsal Diary
Michael Obiora (Ashley), in rehearsal
Photo: Catherine Ashmore
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Day 2We continue where we left off – slowlyprogressing through the early scenes, readingand discussing and then, after lunch, start to‘put it on its feet’. At this early stage, Angus ishappy to let actors wander about the floor,finding their feet, feeling their way andfamiliarising themselves with the set. It’s allvery relaxed and informal. Then we re-tracethese instinctive moves and think about themmore specifically. At this stage Ruth, the DSM,starts to make a pencil note of where peopleare moving to and from for the prompt book.This is the performance bible for theproduction and contains details and timings ofevery light and sound cue and also whereactors enter, move and exit.
Day 3The AD will often be asked to do someresearch, either to help the actors’ practicalunderstanding of their roles or to inform thespecifics of the set design. Today, thesequeries range from finding some informationabout Parkinson’s disease for Don (playingClifton), to questions about where bins go forfood disposal in a restaurant, according toHeath and Hygiene regulations.
We continue to work through the scenes.Angus stresses that, at this stage, he is not‘blocking’ the actors’ moves with anyprecision: we are just ‘playing’, one of the key
benefits of this relatively generous amount ofrehearsal time. It allows the actors to discoverat a calmly productive pace, rather than beingunder pressure to nail things down right away. Because several of the cast and Angus wereinvolved in the original production of the play,everyone is at pains to discover the play anewand not lapse into ‘when we did it last time’thinking. This approach is key in keeping thenew production fresh and vital.
Day 4Neil McArthur, the show’s composer, holds amusic call in the morning with Don (Clifton),who is required to sing in the play, and whichhe is feeling a bit nervous about. Meanwhile,parallel rehearsals continue in the mainrehearsal space. We have a lovely rehearsalroom – big, light and bright with natural light –the holy grail of rehearsal rooms!
This afternoon, we reach scene 3 in rehearsalwhich is Don’s first scene as Clifton in the play.We spend a lot of time reading through anddiscussing this man. Why has he come? Whatis the history of his relationship with his son?Later, Don and I spend some time discussingParkinsons and how this may affect the wayClifton walks; the likely moments in which he might shake; and whether he would be in any pain.
After lunch, a boxer comes in to spend anhour with Kwame (whose character Deli is anex-boxer), to ensure that Kwame knows how aboxer stands, moves and holds himself.
Day 5It’s been a quietly productive first week. Todayfeels like a good point to break for theweekend and let things settle with the cast.Neil leads a singing session with the companyto round off the day. Their voices are upliftingand moving and it becomes apparent this playwill have emotional impact.
Kwame Kwei-Armah and Mchael Obiora
Photo: Catherine Ashmore
Rehearsal Diary
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WEEK 2 Day 6It’s important to publicise the tour as much aspossible before we start, so Graeme, theCompany Manager, is busy scheduling variousinterviews with press and radio for Kwame andAngus.
In the morning, we pick up where we left off onFriday, at the beginning of Act 2, and continueto work through the scene, discussingcharacter objectives and discovering wherethis leads them. At the moment, we are still‘playing’ and trying various things out. Ruth,the DSM, is not noting any exact positioningyet but as we progress through the next fewweeks and begin to make firm decisions abouttraffic across the stage, it will be important forher to do this for the understudy rehearsals.Then if the need arises, an understudy willknow exactly where their character needs tobe on stage and come into a performance withthe least possible difficulty for them and therest of the company.
As AD, it’s my job to organise and oversee theunderstudy casting process, so today, I emailthe casting ‘breakdown’ (requirements) to lotsof agents so they can offer suggestions for theunderstudy actors who will join us inBirmingham.
We rehearse a scene in the afternoon in whichMichael (Ashley) will need blood on his hands.We discuss the off-stage scene that precedesthe one in the play in which Ashley beatssomeone up, so Michael can be absolutelyclear of his back story. The pain in his handswill inform Michael’s movements in the scene,for example, even putting his hands in hispockets will be painful.
Day 7The Costume team pays a visit so that Doncan choose a pair of shoes for Clifton. Someactors find a piece of character clothing –especially shoes – very useful to rehearse with.In the afternoon, there is a fight call with TerryKing, the Fight Director, and we choreographthe various slaps, arm twists, punches andshooting that take place in the play. Terryspeaks about the importance of sound in afight as the “cement between the bricks” ofthe movements. This is the element that anaudience really needs in order to believe thatthe fight is real. Michael then practices his slapnoise over and again! Shaun tells us about onenight in the last production of this play whenthe sound of the gun at the end didn’t work,and he was forced to say ‘bang’, and ruin whatis an incredibly tense and powerful end scene.Ruth makes a note to have 3 back-up soundeffects in the wings, just in case!
Day 8Rehearsing the confrontation between Cliftonand Deli towards the end of the play, bringsthe central theme of fathers and sons (seeThemes section, page 6) into sharp relief.Kwame talks of the moment that Clifton offersDeli “some fatherly advice” as the ‘emotionalgate’ to the scene, opening his character up to18 years of built-up anger and resentment.Angus encourages the actors to run throughthis scene where they let rip emotionally, anddo not attempt any form of emotional
Shaun ParkesPhoto: Catherine Ashmore
Rehearsal Diary
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censorship as they may usually do, either asactors judging a performance or as real lifepeople in this situation; “it may be coarse butwe may discover something”. Sure enough,once the actors have been given licence to dothis, we discover the emotional boundaries ofthe scene and Don as Clifton, in particular,delivers a powerful reading whichdemonstrates Clifton’s emotional desperationand vulnerability. Had we not done thisexercise, he may not have accessed thoseemotions. By the end of the afternoon, we have reachedthe end of the play and have now ‘staggeredthrough’ every scene.
Day 9Today sees costume fittings for the actors withBunny Christie.
Afterwards, we return to rehearsal and get a bitstuck when we re-visit the last scene of theplay: the actors and Angus feel that, in itscurrent layout, the set is restricting movementtoo much and leaves us with very few optionsin terms of the configuration of the actors’positions on stage. Bunny is in rehearsalstoday, so she and Angus organise a hasty re-arrangement of the set, which involvesremoving a table and some chairs and shiftingthe serving area a metre or so upstage.Instantly, everyone feels freer and the stageseems to have grown. Kwame points out thathe doesn’t need to smell the burgers to know
he is in a restaurant, in other words, two tablesto signify a restaurant interior is enough of acompromise between reality and stagepracticality.
Day 10Today, a photographer comes to rehearsals totake pictures for the programme and the frontof house display. Whenever someone newcomes into the rehearsal space, it does alterthe energy of the room but a good rehearsalphotographer will always work with as muchstealth and discretion as possible so as not todisturb the work.
We have a Production Meeting in theafternoon, which provides an opportunity toraise any practical issues to do with the show,such as whether to blunt a real knife or use aplastic one when Deli holds the knife toDigger’s throat, or discussing how we presentthe food on stage, or how the set will fit into allof the different venues we are touring to: noneof the stages are the same size or shape!Bunny takes Michael shopping for the tracksuitAshley has to appear in when Deli says he is“dressed up like a circus clown” – they take adigital camera so Angus can have a look laterand help select the best.
Day 11Don has another singing lesson and, in themain rehearsal room, Angus tries a scene withKwame and Dona standing. Their initial instinctis to sit down throughout the scene butstanding changes the rhythm and it’s greatthat we have time to explore these avenues. Rehearsing this scene leads to a discussion ofboundaries between these two characters.They are employer and employee but there isanother, much stronger and largely unspokenrelationship at work here and it’s interesting topeel back the layers of it.
Day 12Bunny reappears with the costumes, which theactors try on. A few adjustments will be made.Neil McArthur comes in again to run a musiccall but also to provide musicalaccompaniment to the calypso scene thatopens the second act, which is incrediblyhelpful for the actors. Ruth now has a CD of
Kwame Kwei Armah and Michael Obiora
Photo: Catherine Ashmore
Rehearsal Diary
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the music that will be played by the livemusicians in performance. Up to now it’s beenhard to imagine how this music will change theshow – and the musicians won’t be on boarduntil the week before the play opens inBirmingham – but when Ruth plays the musicin rehearsals today, the scenes becomepunctuated by a rich, vital sound which helpsto lift the performance and add a depth andpolish to the work.
Day 15This is our last day in London before wetransfer rehearsals to Birmingham. We do thefirst full run of the play today and it feels new,untested, a bit scrappy, but solid at its core. Itis a good way to mark the shift in the focus ofthe rehearsals. While we have been in Londonthe (largely London-based) company havebeen combining work on this play with theirregular lives but this will all change inBirmingham. The actors will be living awayfrom home in ‘digs’, and we will be rehearsingin the building that the play will be performedin, so there will inevitably be a greater intensityto the work as we draw closer to the openingnight.
WEEK 4Day 16Once everyone has negotiated the M1 and thejoys of looking for a parking space in centralBirmingham where the theatre is located, weall convene in our new rehearsal space at
Birmingham Rep in the afternoon. Ruth is onhand to provide answers to questions like‘Where can I get a nice sandwich atlunchtime?’ and ‘Is there a gym nearby?’ Following Friday’s run, during which Angusmade detailed notes, he works through theplay scene-by-scene and addresses thesepoints. We are now beginning a sort ofsecondary stage of refining the piece.
Day 17Another production meeting. The Wigs andWardrobe departments are keen to find out themeasurements of the understudies to see ifthey will match the actors they are covering orif new clothes or wigs will have to be made orbought. I have scheduled the understudyauditions for Friday so have to ask them towait!
Angus doesn’t like to see members of StageManagement doing scene changes on stageduring a performance, so today he ischoreographing the actors to carry out thescene changes themselves. It helps that ourset is a restaurant, where characters likeAnastasia and Deli would naturally movefurniture and clear tables anyway.
I have made a shortlist of actors to call tounderstudy auditions on Friday, so I makeappointments via their agents and send outscripts so the actors have a chance to readthe play and do any necessary preparationprior to their audition.
Perhaps because they are all away from home,the sense of company is really growing in thecast, which is enjoyable but also useful, as weare all about to go on tour, with only eachother for company.
Day 19I travel to London to audition the understudiesand Angus watches the second full run of theplay. We are now a week away from the end ofrehearsals and suddenly the weeks feelshorter! This time next week, we will all be onstage for the first time. The set will have been‘got in’, the musicians, lighting designer andfull stage crew will have joined us and we willbegin the technical rehearsals.
Oscar JamesPhoto: Catherine Ashmore
Rehearsal Diary
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Why was it important for you to direct this play?I was attracted to the world of this play: it’s ahigh status world where decisions have theimportance of life and death. The writing is richand naturalistic and the characters are real,which always makes the casting and directingvery enjoyable. The play also has a strongnarrative and an epic quality, not epic in thetraditional sense of lasting over a long periodof time but epic in its huge, universal themes.Some of the reviews of the original productionpicked up on this and likened it to a Greektragedy, in its scale and universality, which Ithink is right.
When you directed the original production,what sort of development work did you andKwame do on the script?I worked closely on the early drafts of thescript with Kwame and also with Nick Drake,from the National Theatre’s LiteraryDepartment. Nick ensured that the play hadthe right structural turning points, such as inthe argument between Digger and Deli at theend of the first act. We then did a workshop
and a rehearsed reading of the play at theNational Theatre Studio and probably,throughout this process, worked through twoor three drafts of the play.
What’s it like working with the writer in therehearsal room?Well, I’ve only ever directed new work, so I’vealways been lucky to have to the writer inrehearsals, as part of the process. The directorworks as an interpretive filter on a play,deciding what’s important and ensuring thatthis is realised in performance and, for me, it’suseful to have the writer there to hear theirinsight into their work and enable me tounderstand the play and all its themes fully.
There are moments when it’s good for thewriter to be absent – the odd afternoon whenit’s just the actors and me and they probablyfeel they can speak truthfully about the textand their characters and not have to censortheir feelings in front of the writer. On this play,Kwame is very easy to have in rehearsal.Because he is also an actor, he understandsthe practical process of rehearsing a new playand the negotiation involved. He lets me trythings that might prove to be blind alleys and,equally, I am prepared to do that with theactors. It’s all negotiation.
Touching on the subject of actors, I’venoticed you ask them a lot of questions inrehearsal. You often respond to an actor’squestion with another question. Is this adeliberate strategy?Yes, very much so. If you tell someone what todo, that won’t get them invested in the role.Asking them questions will force them to thinkabout their involvement with the character,scene or play and if they can come up with theanswers themselves, this will enable them togain ownership. The worst performances I’veseen in theatre are where the actors do notown their performances.
But doesn’t that sometimes mean that youare waiting for them to catch up, to saywhat you have already thought of?Sometimes, but you need a lot of patience asa director! Also, it’s important to say that I
Angus Jackson (Director), in rehearsal
Photo: Catherine Ashmore
The Director: Angus Jackson
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think the actors are working with me, not forme. I let them explore and experiment just asKwame allows me to do the same with hisscript, even though, when he’s in the roomwatching me work, I might be exploringsomething that ultimately isn’t right. I’m quitehonest, though; my cards are on the table. Ifan actor makes a choice that I don’t feel isright I will say “I don’t buy that” and there aretimes when you have to say, “you should dothis”.
Have you encountered any difficulties inrehearsing this play for the second timewith some of the same actors from theoriginal production?My approach has been to treat this productionas if it’s happening for the first time, butbecause some of the same people areinvolved; some decisions have inevitably beenmade in the same way. It’s interesting, actually,to watch the actors move across the stage.Even the ones who weren’t in the originalproduction are taking up a lot of the samepositions on stage, making the same moves astheir predecessors, as if there is a right way ofdoing it. In other instances, though, such asDon playing Clifton, a lot of the decisions he ismaking about the character are very different
and that is a good thing, because it keeps itfresh and alive. I’ve also been struck by howthe actors from the first production are stillprepared to enter into a spirit of investigation,even if they end up reaching the sameconclusions. I have directed a revival beforewhere the cast were a mix of old and new andsomehow they weren’t quite in step, but thishasn’t happened here, perhaps because I havelearnt from past experience.
Finally, can you talk about the set? Youmentioned that you were drawn to theplay’s naturalism but the set is quiteabstract, isn’t it?Well, Bunny Christie and I didn’t want anaturalistic set as we felt it would be toolimiting and reductive for a play with such big,universal themes. Before I directed the originalproduction, Bunny, Kwame and I visited a lotof West Indian Cafes and Takeaways inHackney, where the play is set. We ate a lot ofpatties and curried goat! There was one inparticular which had bright yellow walls withblack and white photos of black heroes andthat was the place from which Bunny drew herinspiration for our set. We abstracted thatplace to get our set.
The Director: Angus Jackson
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Can you explain what a Company Manager is?A Company Manager is the connectionbetween the touring company and theproducer of the play, whether that’s acommercial producer or a repertory theatre,like with Elmina’s Kitchen. You make sure thatthe show happens, in every way; on time, inthe right place…!
In the right place?Well, yes, I’m not joking. I was once on a tourwith a show where we were performing insmall venues, a different one each day. Iremember one morning looking up the nextlittle town on a map and driving there with theactors in the minibus, only to find that we wereactually booked to play in a town with thesame name, but in the next county! Anyway,we got to the right place in the end, and didthe show; we just drove very quickly on windyroads and overtook lots of tractors on bends!
What is your day-to-day routine on tour?It’s really dependent on the scale and nature ofthe show. My first duty would be to sort outany problems that may have arisen from thenight before. If the show is well organised,there may not be much to do. It’s certainly thecase in Stage Management that the job getsinteresting when things go wrong. Quite often,the most enjoyable days are when I have lotsof problems to sort out and troubleshoot, andthey could range from organising a doctor’sappointment for an actor with a sore throat, toliasing with the financiers of the show aboutstage crew overtime.
On a show like this, when I am involved duringthe rehearsal period, I am busy putting plans inplace for the tour but my main role is tosupport the Stage Management team which,again, could involve helping and co-ordinatinganything and everything to do with props.Yesterday, for instance, I trawled the poshshops of Birmingham to find the carrier bagsthat Baygee brings in for his first entrance inthe play. You can’t be too grand in this job!
What will be the particular challenges ofthis production on tour?Well the obvious one will be understudies. Ifthey are called upon, they need to be readyand fully prepared to do the job. It’s a timething. They don’t start with us until the PressNight in Birmingham and yet, a week later,they have to be prepared and confident to givea performance if needed. It will be tight!Also, there is a lot of food in this show and itcan be a struggle to find a suitable place toprepare edible food in every backstage area.
You are ‘on the road’ a lot in your job. Whatare the difficulties of touring?Sometimes as Company Manager, it can bequite lonely. The temptation is to join in withthe on-tour social activities but it’s importantto remember I’m on tour to do a job thatcarries a lot of responsibility. I have learnt thatit’s sometimes necessary for me to existseparately from the social aspects.
We all take our creature comforts at home forgranted, so without them, on tour, it can behard. There’s the whole world of ‘digs’ (homesin which actors and the production team rent aroom while they are in a particular city), butwhen it’s not your home, no matter howfriendly your hosts are, you can never totallyrelax and switch off. You have to be polite andchat to them even if you have had a long andgruelling day in the theatre. You are, existingunder someone else’s rules.
So, what coping strategies have youdeveloped to help with this?The ability to sleep anywhere is crucial! I thinkit’s also important to give yourself little treatswhen you are on tour and away from home.My thing is music and CDs. I drive my StageManagement team mad with all of the music Iplay and listen to!
Do you have to like the show you areworking on?Well it does help. If you are on a six-monthtour with a show that you don’t think is anygood, it’s an incredibly demoralising
The Company Manager: Graeme Braidwood
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experience – like pushing a heavy object up asteep hill. Luckily, I think Elmina’s Kitchen is agreat show and an important one, too.
How did you become a Company Managerand what qualities does the job require?I did a three-year Performing Arts degree,learnt about Stage Management in the processand discovered I really liked it. I would suggestthat if anyone was interested in doing this job,they should try and get an much experience asthey can, whether by doing school plays,amateur dramatics or work experience. Manyregional theatres like Birmingham Rep offergood work experience opportunities. You need to be patient, calm and generous.Being a good Company Manager or working inany area of Stage Management is like being agreat party host. You have to be able to takeenjoyment from knowing that you haveenabled this great event to happen. The
Company Manager is the one that fills theglasses and makes sure the vol-au-vents areon the table so that others can enjoy them.You do get recognition, but only in abackground way, so you have to be the sort ofperson for whom that is fulfilling.
Finally, have you any funny stories fromyour experience of being a CompanyManager?Well, I got some very strange looks a fewweeks ago when I was ripping down postersfrom walls and lampposts in Hackney to useon the Elmina’s Kitchen set! I also remember aparticular show I was on tour with when theonly rehearsal time the actors had was on anovernight train from Edinburgh to London. Infact, that was the same show in which I had toprovide the voice of a ninja turtle on stage: it’snot all glamour, you know!
The Company Manager: Graeme Braidwood
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The Scenic Artist: DAVID WILLIAMS (HeadScenic Artist on Elmina’s Kitchen, residentat Birmingham Rep).
Can you explain what you do and at whatstage of the production you becomeinvolved?It’s our responsibility in this department (knownas the ‘paintshop’) to paint all areas of the set.On Elmina’s Kitchen, we are responsible forcreating all of the textures on the ‘walls’ and‘floor’ of the restaurant, including making themlook grubby and worn in the first act. We arealso protecting the floor against the spilling ofAshley’s ‘blood’ when he is shot at the end ofthe play, so that it can be wiped down andmade to look new for the next performance.
The process started when Bunny Christie,showed us the set model of her design. Wemade comments, gave our impressions andtogether, came to an agreement of how wewould practically interpret her design. The nextstage was when we began painting the three-dimensional set, constructed in the workshop
here at Birmingham Rep. It’s all a process ofinterpretation, really: it’s my job to interpret thedesigner’s ideas, just as it is up to the directorand actors to interpret the script.
What made you want to do the job?I’ve loved theatre since I was a small boy andused to make a miniature theatre out of astool, my mum’s scarf and my dad’s bicyclelamp! I wondered about becoming an actor butI’ve always loved scenery. I did reach a stagewhen I was younger of thinking ‘I can’t hold itin any longer, I have to paint a set!’It’s good to get as much amateur experienceas you can. I think I have an instinct for colour,which you need in order to do this job. There’sno such thing as a ‘good’ colour or a ‘bad’colour, it’s how you combine them and howthey are affected by the lights on stage.
Don’t you ever want to design a showyourself?Well, I used to do that. Being a theatredesigner used to be a much more ‘hands on’job – you would design the set and then paintit yourself – but over the last 60 years or so,there’s been a separation of these two jobs. Ienjoy my job and my attitude to the design Ihave been given is “it’s not mine, it’s thedesigner’s” and I try to execute it to the best ofmy ability. Working in rep, you don’t get timeto think about it much, anyway. You finish onejob and move straight onto the next production– sometimes we have to do a set in a week.We are at the end of the production line, so tospeak. Our department is the last one the setcomes to before it is put up in the theatre, sohow long we get to paint it and create theeffects depends on whether all of the otherdepartments are running to schedule.
What materials do you use?All of the paint we use is water-based, eitheracrylic or emulsion. We also mix in things tocreate texture, such as the chipping andsawdust the workshop have created in buildingthe set. This set is fairly orthodox in terms ofthe effects we are creating, but I did recentlywork on a set that was covered in lots of brightglitter. That was like eating food with a verystrong flavour; Elmina’s Kitchen is a moresimple dish.
Shaun ParkesPhoto: Catherine Ashmore
The Scenic Artist: David Williams
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Do you have any favourite effects ordesigns?It isn’t really like that. Each show is differentand everything is a one-off. I don’t actuallyrepeat much in this job; you don’t think “oh,another wall that has to look like it’s made ofred brick”. It’s more individual than that. Youhave to think, How old is the wall? Has itreceived a lot of sunlight or rain? Is it wellbuilt? There’s a lot of experimentation involved.In the set for Elmina’s Kitchen, for example,Bunny gave me a sample of a lino tile becauseshe wanted us to replicate the effect of it forthe walls of the restaurant. It has a slightlymarbled effect so I have to interpret that, andscale it up for our set, and ensure that thecolours will work on this scale and undertheatre lights.
What other challenges were involved inpainting the set for this production?I mentioned before that when a character getsshot at the end of the play, there will be a lot offake blood on the stage, so it’s vital that weseal the paintwork on the floor extremely well,otherwise the red stain, however much it iswashed away at the end of a performance, willbuild up on the floor over time. The texture ofthe floor that we have created will trapparticles of colour and a pinkish blush willdevelop there. Obviously, this would be adisaster, as it would give away the end of theshow!
Also, when you are producing a set that willtour, and be used in lots of different venuesand moved in and out of vans, it can easily get damaged so we tend to put extra coats of paint and an extra seal on most surfaces.
The Scenic Artist: David Williams
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You have now been involved in the show inmany capacities – as writer, director andnow performer. Has your perspective onyour play changed at all?Well, as an actor, I find I have no objectivity. Ican only feel my way through this play. I’malso not really aware, or cannot feel, theoverarching tragedy in the play – as I may dofrom the more objective viewpoints of writer ordirector – I can only feel the struggle. I’veactually found that throughout the process ofrehearsing this production of the play, I’vebeen in quite an aggressive mood because ofDeli and the journey he takes.
The experience of playing Deli has clarified forme that I should not act in the first productionof my plays! I mean, I don’t write to act in theplays anyway, but that is just the currentcircumstance.
Can you talk about your working processwith Angus? He recently directed your playFix Up at the National Theatre. What do youlike about working with him?I like that he seeks the truth, both aestheticallyand cerebrally. That’s why it’s been so great to
work with him – he’s a refining influence on mywork and he has an intellectual honesty that Ilike. I view him as a translator: if there arethings that a wider audience might notunderstand about the play, Angus will ensurethat they do.
Are there any elements of the character ofDeli that you share as a man? Do youbelieve there is universality in hisexperience of being a father of a teenager?Yes, and that would be the thing that Isuppose I do have in common with Deli,although my own son is not yet a teenager andis not like Ashley. That’s probably why I havefound the scenes in which Deli has realconcern for his child the easiest to play. The scenes between Deli and his own father,Clifton, are more difficult because they requirean element of disrespect that I do not have formy own father or for my elders, so thatbehaviour does not come naturally to me as aperson.
Is it fair to say that this is a play aboutfathers and sons?Yes, Elmina’s Kitchen is fundamentally a playabout three generations of black men trying todefine themselves in their time.
The theme of reading is strong in this playand that continues into your next play, FixUp. Is that the key theme of the trilogy youare writing?The only true elevator in society is education.The only way to access that is through self-motivation. I was a ‘B’ grade student at schooland didn’t perceive myself in academic terms.My motivation for self-education as a man waspolitical, personal and social, and I think we allhave an obligation to fulfil our potential and notleave it to waste.
Kwame Kwei-ArmahPhoto: Catherine Ashmore
Writer and Performer: Kwame Kwei-Armah
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1. The character of Anastasia makes someinteresting choices throughout the play.Discuss;●What her possible reasons might be forconcealing that her son is dead until her finalscene with Deli;●Why she decides to spend the night withClifton at the beginning of Act 2;●Why she offers to clean Ashley up afterDigger has hit him, although Ashley has beenrude to her.
2. We talk a lot in rehearsals about characters‘back stories’ (their biographies prior to theaction of the play). There are two importantfather-son relationships in the play, Clifton andDeli, and Deli and Ashley. What do you imagine these relationships werelike in the past few years, months, or days andhow does this inform the characters behaviourtowards each other in the play?
3. Clifton has the beginnings of Parkinson’sdisease. How might this inform how hischaracter behaves, both physically andpsychologically? Do you think this is animportant aspect of this character’s story?
4. The characters speak in lots of differentdialects in this play. What words in the play areunfamiliar to you? Why might characterschoose to speak in a certain way? Can youidentify the moments when characters choosespecifically the language they speak in (oneexample is when Anastasia is on the phone tothe police)? How important is the way wespeak to our background and socialbehaviour?
5. The ideas of reputation and honour areimportant themes of the play. Why do youthink Ashley wants to get involved withDigger? Why do you think Digger changes hismind about Ashley working for him?
6. What do you make of the line Deli says toAshley, “The true sign of intelligence is how aman deals with the problems of hisenvironment”?
7. Food is important in this play. Discuss howfood can take on a deep cultural significance –the choices we make, and the way in whichthe restaurant changes between first andsecond acts.
FOR DISCUSSION
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1. In small groups, improvise scenes that arenot in the play, for example;●Digger’s conversation with Ashley about the‘job’ they do across the road – beating Roy upand burning the shop down;●Some of the party that opens Act 2, forexample Deli and Anastasia setting therestaurant up for the party. Is Deli excited?How does Anastasia feel and what does shewant from the evening?;●Deli’s conversation with the police when hetells them about Digger organising the attackon Roy.
2. Deli says that if Roy dies of his injuries andburns, the police will come to get Digger.Improvise the court case that may arise. WouldDeli, Clifton and Anastasia be witnesses? Whatdo you think they would say?
3. When Digger and Ashley attack Roy, thisprovides the play with a crucial turning point. Ifyou could speak to Deli, Digger and Ashley inthis moment, what advise would you givethem? How do you think they would respond? Try to improvise these ‘hot seat’ situations.
PRACTICAL EXERCISES
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1. Do some historical research into thebackground of London’s Caribbeancommunity. How might Baygee’s experience ofliving in London be different to Ashley’s?
2. Find out about the historical characters andthe books referenced in the play, such as HaileSelassie, The Celestine Prophecy, Acts ofFaith, the castle that Anastasia dreamt aboutand thinks the restaurant might be namedafter. What significance do such characters,books and places have in this play?
3. This is a play in which many characters facemany obstacles. Plot a graph chart tracing thedifferent character’s objectives and obstaclesscene-by-scene. Trace the progress of thecharacters through the story.
4. One of the key themes in Elmina’s Kitchen isreading. Note the times characters talk aboutreading in the play, from Baygee warningDigger to read street signs to Anastasiareading a page out of her book, and writeabout how and why you think this theme is soimportant in the play.
The playtexts for Kwame Kwei-Armah’sElmina’s Kitchen (£8.99), and his new play, Fix Up (£8.99), both published by Methuen, are available from the National's Bookshop.
T 020 7452 3456 F 020 7452 3457 E [email protected] online orderingwww.nationaltheatre.org.uk/bookshop
