Review: MEETINGS, Orange Tree Theatre

As The Statesman says, the late Mustapha Matura was “the most perceptive and humane of Black dramatists writing in Britain. His 1981 satire Meetings can be proof of that, first opening Off-Broadway and now making its first major 21st-century UK return to the Orange Tree Theatre. In his directorial debut, JMK Young Directors Award winner Kalungi Ssebandeke’s production proves why this classic remains hilarious as ever.

High-flying couple Hugh and Jean are constantly stuck in meetings. After Hugh buys a mango from an elderly woman, his desire to eat the Trinidadian foods from his youth leads him to hire the woman’s granddaughter Elsa as a cook. From there, a slippery slope emerges as Hugh questions his identity.

What starts as a broad satire in act one devolves into a literal nightmare as Trinidadian tradition versus Western globalisation comes to a head. Thanks to Mustapha’s irreverent yet grounded script this feels just as relevant forty years later, the ending’s sudden tragedy doesn’t feel forced as Elsa’s arrival disturbs the couple’s often careless status quo. It’s more than just the food Elsa cooks, but it soon turns into larger decisions surrounding the island’s water systems and what the citizens put in their lungs, possibly halting the progress the country has strived for.

Adding to the intimacy of the larger conflict is Olivia Jaimeson’s set. With all the action taking place in the bare bones of a kitchen, it feels cold and sterile before Elsa’s arrival with only Naomi Wright’s costumes indicating Kevin and Jean’s high status and tastes. As Elsa cooks onstage, we’re invited to smell the saltfish aromas as Kevin enjoys one Triniadian meal from the next. Ali Hunter’s lighting and Diane Alison-Mitchell’s movement direction feel high energy and dreamlike for scenes outside the kitchen, occasionally using slow motion transitions.

Kevin N Golding (Play Mas) perfectly conveys the animated enthusiasm of a middle-aged man longing to relive the old days as he excitedly describes saltfish, coo-coo and dumplings. As he questions who and what he is compared to the environment around him, you can see why his downslide can’t be stopped.

Equally as captivating is Martina Laird, Hugh’s ambitious and often callous wife Jean, who strives for the material benefits of globalisation in the form of to die for cigarettes she’s creating the campaign form. Carrying her head high when Elsa’s in the room, the face she makes when seeing Elsa wear nothing but a nightgown could cut the tension with a knife. All three actors are amazing in their own right, but it’s Beth Mary-Jane’s (Trouble in Butetown) Elsa who makes an impact, giving her an otherworldly quality as she and Hugh bond over shared love of food.

Riotously funny and a feast for the senses, Ssebandeke’s take on Meetings is an eye-opening look into what identity means as Western culture takes over. Featuring a talented cast who capture the balance of the play’s satire and very real horror, this engaging revival remains as much of a must-watch as it did forty years ago.

Meetings is at the Orange Tree Theatre until 11 November

Photo Credit: Marc Brenner.

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