Review: I SEE YOU, Royal Court Theatre, March 5 2016

It's been an exciting few months for Noma Dumezweni. At the end of last year she stepped into the lead role of Linda at the last minute, replacing Kim Cattrell; it was announced that she would be playing the role of Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opening this summer and in I See You she makes her directorial debut in the intimate setting of the Jerwood Theatre upstairs in the Royal Court Theatre, a gripping play by South African writer Mongiwekhaya.

Law student Ben (Bayo Gbadamosi) meets Skinn (Jordan Baker), a young girl, at a nightclub where they eventually end up leaving together. On their drive home they are pulled over by two police officers who accuse Ben of driving while under the influence of alcohol. The situation escalates at a terrifying pace, as Officer Buthelezi becomes disgusted by the way Ben has turned his back on his racial heritage, taking an English name and forgetting his mother tongue.

Buthelezi (Desmond Dube) is a man on the edge; his marriage is falling apart, he's haunted by nightmares of the fighting he witnessed during the war and is dismayed to see that those who fought to end apartheid and the reasons behind it are being forgotten.

Skinn spends her time searching for Ben, but her story is irrelevant and doesn't really add anything to the plot. Dube stands out in his role as the forceful, abusive police officer, while Gbadamosi convincingly switches between his know-it-all attitude as a law student reminding the police that his rights have been breached, to a terrified youngster, trembling as he is forced to do what the officer tells him to do. Dumezweni does a superb job of tying together all the different stories in a fast moving 80-minute production.

The play, developed as part of the Royal Court's new writing project in South Africa, is next moving to Johannesburg's Market Theatre in April.

Photo Credit: Johan Persson