Michael Abbensetts‘ play seemed all but forgotten when the National Theatre chose to revive it on their large Lyttelton stage. Arinzé Kene plays Walker Holt, a Windrush immigrant, dreams of opening his own tailor shop in Carnaby Street London and has the opportunity, providing he completes a major alteration order overnight. A few critics thought this was a worthy revival, some thought it simply ‘worthy’, and one didn’t think it was worth it.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

‘Abbensetts’s words zing and crackle on the Lyttelton stage with fire and might,’ proclaimed Anya Ryan at LondonTheatre (4★). She gives much credit to the director: ‘Linton takes this history and amplifies it into colour; we see visions of people from their past, back home, as vivid memories. The future generation is there too, just a stretch away, almost in reach.’

The Telegraph‘s Dominic Cavendish (4★) called it a ‘riveting slice of life from the turbulent Seventies.’ He explained ‘Michael Abbensetts documents a period of social transformation and attempted assimilation while addressing- with timeless, tragicomic flair- the way that self-sacrifice can result in frayed hopes and dreams.’ He continued, ‘Using some nifty textual enhancements (by Trish Cooke), Linton’s richly textured production reclaims him as a major voice’. On top of that, ‘Kene confirms his top-drawer skillset’.

WhatsOnStage‘s Sarah Crompton (4★) ‘Directed by Lynette Linton with the most delicate sense of balance, it emerges as warm, wistful and as full of richly coloured threads as the clothes that hang on rails above Frankie Bradshaw’s crowded set, rising and falling like waves’ She concluded, ‘The play has a subtle sadness to it, a sense of hopes betrayed but also achieved. It’s a fascinating addition to the repertory, one that points the way to the future, but also offers a vivid portrait of its own time.’

Dave Fargnoli in The Stage (3★) thought it a worthy offering: ‘Though the play shows its age in places, it remains engaging and relatable, offering valuable insights into the experiences and motivations of members of the Windrush generation. Rediscovering and retelling those previously sidelined stories marks an important step towards positive change.’ much helped by ‘Kene’s charismatic performance’.

Time Out‘s Adrjez Lukowski (3★) thought director Lynette Linton ‘does a typically great job here at capturing the camaraderie and the tension that defines the lives of Walker and his colleagues.’ However he was unsure about the star: ‘It seems to me that Walker is a relatively simple character, but Kene’s combination of freakish good looks and a determination to burden Walker with a load of physical business and a somewhat incongruous pernickity middle manager vibe leaves the character feeling weirdly elusive and ill-defined compared to literally everyone else on stage.’

LondonTheatre1‘s Chris Omaweng (3★) found it all a bit too much: ‘The dialogue lurches from the mechanics of getting bags (and bags, and bags, and bags) of clothes in and out of the shop to substantially deeper issues, and back again. When combined with a stage that rotates between the front and back of Walker’s shop so many times that I couldn’t help but think of the New Scotland Yard sign, it was frankly rather dizzying. It was at least, a very eventful narrative, and one delivered by a cast with commitment and conviction.’

The Times‘ Clive Davis (2★) was the harshest critic of the play. He declared ‘the script tries to squeeze too many themes into a rambunctious sitcom-style format’ and found ‘Although Kene injects energy into Holt, the script gives him little to work with’.