Funny but messy look at the legacy of slavery

Dorfman Theatre at the National Theatre

After great success with Rockets and Blue Lights, Winsome Pinnock returns to the National Theatre’s Dorfman Theatre with a play that looks at ‘the legacy of enslavement for both those who were responsible and those who are descendants of the enslaved’ (WhatsOnStage). Most of the critics thought it was amusing, but messy.

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

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar summed up: ‘It all courses along with a lightness of touch that works. What a disarming way to serve up important contemporary questions around investigating histories, facing up to toxic legacies and atoning – or at the very least apologising – for them.’

Franco Milazzo for BroadwayWorld noted: ‘The real electricity comes from the triangular combat between Fenella, Marva and Abi, each circling the others with intellectual vanity, professional insecurity and something far more primal beneath.’ He pointed out: ‘This is not quite the gothic thriller it promises. But as a tense, talky, quietly incendiary three-hander about race, legacy and intellectual power, it cuts deeper than any jump scare.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

WhatsOnStage’s Sarah Crompton called it ‘a pacy and surprisingly witty three-hander which explores the legacy of enslavement for both those who were responsible and those who are descendants of the enslaved.’ She concluded: ‘Billed as a “gothic psychological thriller”, there are moments of comedy, drama and real pathos, alongside some investigative scenes that feel a bit Scooby Doo in tone. There’s much to enjoy in this production, but it needs to be more focused to authenticate its own identity.’

Holly O’Mahony for LondonTheatre opined: ‘Pinnock confronts the politics of racial identity head on. But is laughter the best medicine for tackling troubling ghosts of the past? I’m not so sure.’

Time Out‘s Andrzej Lukowski was convinced that: ‘whatever contrivances there may be to get there, the questions The Authenticator asks are salient enough to justify it all, and it’s an enjoyable – if bumpy – ride to get some answers.’

2 stars ⭑⭑

Although Fiona Mountford is still billed by The i as their Chief Theatre Critic Telegraph, lately she has been doing more reviews for The Telegraph.  She was critical of the play: ‘The 90-minute running time of Miranda Cromwell’s traverse production is too short to explore adequately everyone’s motivations and to explain away plot implausibilities, yet wearyingly long enough for trite dialogue and a few half-hearted haunted-house-style jump scares.’ She thought: ‘As one might expect from this type of dramatic set-up, secrets are (sort of) unearthed and conclusions (sort of) reached, yet there remains the unmistakable whiff of a script that has been continually and unsatisfactorily edited.’

The Times’ Clive Davis was damning: ‘Is it a satire, a polemic, a detective story or a pseudo-gothic thriller? Winsome Pinnock’s play about researchers wandering a stately home seems to shift directions every ten minutes. The three actors, Rakie Ayola, Cherrelle Skeete and Sylvestra Le Touzel, do their very best to keep The Authenticator on course…but in the end it’s a lost cause.’

Critics’ average rating: 3.0⭑

The Authenticator can be seen at the National Theatre until 9 May 2026. Buy tickets directly from the theatre.

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