Myths and Legends meets gig-theatre in Chukwudi Onwere‘s one-man play, Deptford Baby., and I am here for it! The talented storyteller takes us back to 90s Deptford, which remains vivid in my head having spent most of my teenage to late 20s in the area, before unexpectedly plunging us into an underwater adventure.
Chino Igwe, our Deptford local hero, dreams of becoming a world-famous novelist and dazzles his community with wild adventure stories. It’s his final day in Goldsmith’s University, but whilst en route to handing in his thesis on Olaudah Equiano, a natural climate disaster descends… on Deptford. The streets crack open and a flood has the community swimming for their lives.
The show as a whole is a wonderful celebration of inner city life, a great history education and legacy to Deptford, a multicultural as well as multigenerational society. We meet Chino’s Nigerian dad and an honorary 96-year-old ‘Aunty’ Idioma, who both offer words of wisdom to Chino when he wounds up inside the belly of a fish.
Contrasting these two sage-like older characters is Adaeze, Chino’s Liverpudlian love interest, who ‘kicks him up the rear end’. Now this character is a breath of fresh air as she brings forth a balanced and thought-provoking argument for gentrification. This is both diligent and excellent writing on Onwere’s part to expand on unpopular opinions in today’s society.
There’s a lot of interaction in the piece, especially with DJ Tommy Tappah creating a great atmosphere in the beginning with his playlist and call and response. He set the scene for summer and brought good vibes and the audience was revved up. I was hoping for more from DJ Tommy Tappah during the performance as it would have given the lead actor some much-needed respite from being on stage, but we were satisfied with his re-enactment of a pitbull-defeating cat later on in the story.
Onwere has packed his piece with delightful metaphoric language, and alliterations which I loved. The rich writing alone is a masterclass in writing a novel, while his storytelling is vivid. It is a gift to all ages especially as it is a known fact that imagination begins to decrease as we learn what is real and what isn’t.
Therefore this is my kind of writing, mind-saving and easily accessible to both adults and children. Other characters in the show, such as the fish, pitbull and serpent are all symbolic of our opposition in today’s society, mainly in politics, while the flood references ecological crisis. The mention of the Biafran War has honestly got to be the simplest explanation that I have ever heard.
The lighting and sound supported the surrealness of the performance; bringing the black box space to life with colour. The multimedia could have been used more, perhaps with images of Deptford High Street, its market and its residents. The DJ table had a British and Grenadian flag tucked beside it to represent the area’s demographic, but again using the multimedia to display many more flags would have been more effective especially as there was no specific mention of Grenada so seeing the flag on stage felt random.
Onwere’s physical performance and accents were very impressive and a lot of consideration and effort has gone into niche multi-genre production. However, the pace felt slow, notably in the scenes with Dad and honorary Aunty. Both of these characters were very similar being advanced in years, West African and religious. Their message was predictable although monumental, but it needed to be delivered with a different energy and convention. It is here we could have done with another rap or choreographed movement.
Deptford Baby is an extraordinary tale of community and courage that will be enjoyed by all.
Need to know: Deptford Baby runs until at the Brockley Jack Theatre until 3 August 2024.
