News Desk December 10th, 2018
Nine Night has gone down in history as the first play by a black British female playwright to open in the West End. After a sell-out run at the National Theatre earlier this year, what did the critics think of this West End transfer?
The Times was full of praise for the production saying "It deserves to be a smash-hit here too. Funny, sad, acute, acted with huge energy and finesse, it skewers family dynamics in a way that will click with anyone, whether or not they have experience of the Caribbean tradition of extended mourning". The Evening Standard was also full of praise saying "Name-to-watch director Roy Alexander Weise's production is full of energy, although punctuated by moments of earned silence. An impressive evening."
The Arts Desk saying "This is Natasha Gordon's first play, and in it, she has created an entire world. A world of grief and laughter, conflict and closeness. A world that is very specifically located within Britain's Jamaican community, yet one whose themes of loss and belonging cross boundaries. Between the tears and the recriminations, it is also very, very funny."
Awarding the production five stars, Culture Whisper said: "Nine Night is a warm and loving immersion into a specific tradition in a particular culture, but it's the universality that is most striking; it's about grief in its many guises and family in all its unruly, raw complexity".
What is Nine Night about?
Nine Night tells the story of Gloria, who is very ill, when her time comes her family prepare for the traditional wake. As the Nine Nights of food, music, mourning and constant visitors ensues this family tradition tests Gloria's closest loved ones.
Nine Night is now playing at the Trafalgar Studios through to February 9.
