Dael Orlandersmith’s Pulitzer Prize nominated play Yellowman heads to London for its first major revival since its premiere in 2004.
Yellowman follows the love story between Alma, a dark-skinned Black woman and Eugene, a lighter skinned Black man. The play explores the impact and trauma developed from the colourism faced in their Deep South African American community. The discrimination and prejudice that darker people face, and the way lighter skinned people are highly favoured, is shown throughout the performance.
We are taken on journey from the very moment Alma and Eugene meet. From the sweet childhood scenes as they play superheroes and sing songs, to their adolescence and then adulthood. We witness their relationship blossom amongst the ugly opinions of their friends and family. The pair face bigotry, misogyny, family abuse, all from a young age.
Nadine Higgins plays Alma, who deals with verbal abuse from her mother. Eugene, played by Aaron Anthony, has a father who resents him. It is a multicharacter memory play, with Higgin and Anthony portraying various characters in Alma and Eugene’s lives. I was impressed with how the pair seamlessly transformed into friends and family members. Despite their differences and how the community viewed them, Alma and Eugene fall in love. As the story goes on, we see how Alma battles with her mother’s internalised hate, which drives her to leave South Carolina for New York City, with a college scholarship. Meanwhile, Eugene goes through generational trauma, and struggles to find direction in his life. The topics are heavy, and I applaud Higgin and Eugene for their passionate performances.
Higgin was thoroughly convincing as Alma. The speech about how Alma viewed her body was heart-breaking and left me with goosebumps. Anthony was also fantastic as Eugene, although I felt they were at their strongest when portraying childhood/teenage Eugene. Orlandersmith has brilliantly crafted this story; the dialogue is lyrical and full of emotion. Higgin and Anthony narrate separately, as monologues and the chemistry between them was palpable. My favourite line was Eugene expressing how kissing Alma felt like ‘home’. Rajiv Pattani’s choice of the lilac lighting in this scene was beautiful. With just a wooden stage and soft lighting, the direction from Diana Page felt intimate and held our full attention for the duration of the performance.
Alcoholism indirectly and directly affected our main characters. Esther Kehinde Ajayi’s sound design cleverly embodied this, with subtle sounds of liquid being poured in the background. The second half was even more intense, with noticeable gasps from the audience. I personally felt some scenes in the final act appeared out of character for our lead – but it certainly provided a shock factor.
With such tough themes, Yellowman is a deeply moving play, with so much raw emotion from our characters. I am thankful for this production as it shares an important message about prejudice and racial discrimination, an issue that is still evident in society today.
| Yellowman | Orange Tree Theatre | Until the 8th October |
{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}
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