REVIEW: DEPTFORD BABY at Jack Studio Theatre 23 July – 3 August 2024

‘the hero's journey - Deptford style’ ★★☆☆☆

Brockley Jack is pumping with vibes as exuberant DJ Tommy Tappah warms up the audience for Deptford Baby. An entire sound system is set up to convey an urban summer on the steamy pavements of Deptford High Street, only a couple of miles away. Lots of the audience join in, raise hands, and chant words. This isn’t going to be your typical night at the theatre.

Enter Chukwudi Onwere, to share with the audience a fantastical story. While heading to Goldsmiths University at New Cross to hand in his black British history master’s dissertation, the streets crack open and there’s an earthquake. Not only does Deptford crumble away but a series of bizarre and biblical events ensue: a flood, giant fish, serpent. All must be dealt with, negotiated or vanquished.

Amid this chaos, the cherished dissertation washes away. Could this be the worst disaster of all? Almost forty and still living at home with his parents, Chudwadi discloses his dream of being a novelist. Can he finally break the home ties and academic cul-de-sac to realise his ambitions and become an independent artist? Or are there just too many obstacles?

Spoken as a monologue, with some lively interjections by Tommy Tappah, Onwere, a Peckham born actor of Nigerian heritage takes on the physicality of the entire 70-minute quest. One minute he is ‘cotching’, slang for relaxing or chilling, the next he is thrusting a machete through a giant fish. He employs a range of accents to bring different characters alive, with varying success. Technically, the sound and lighting are used effectively to create a shifting prism of atmospheres.

Deptford Baby could be taken as a fantasy story and classic hero’s journey, great fun for kids with its implicit values of having dreams and being brave even when things get tough. Or it could be an allegorical take and the beastly images of adversity are metaphors for self-doubt, fear, insecurity etc. Either way, it feels as though more clarity and refinement are needed for this wordy production to reach its full potential.

The atmosphere in the room lifted when music was deployed – a blast of ragga about slaying the serpent. It would have been energising to include more musical interludes throughout and integrate the sound system more resourcefully into the narrative. There are references to gentrification and the erosion of traditional communities in Deptford, an important social aspect of Deptford that deserves more attention. The word community is bandied around a lot but could be unpacked and demonstrated more dramatically.

Deptford Baby was longlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award in 2022 and further developed through Jack Studio’s Past Present Future Writers Project. It’s important to see local and diverse stories being nurtured. Hopefully, Deptford Baby will be the first of many.

DEPTFORD BABY at Jack Studio Theatre 23 July – 3 August 2024

Written and performed by Chukwudi Onwere

Featuring DJ Tommy Tappah

Box Office: https://brockleyjack.co.uk/jackstudio-entry/deptford-baby/

Reviewer:  Nilgün Yusuf