‘Have you seen Theresa May dance? Now that’s a hostile environment.” When the former UK prime minister is introduced halfway through Lenny Henry’s one-man show about the Windrush scandal, she is swiftly dismissed. It’s one more punchline as Henry holds court with a bountiful supply of jokes, accompanied by near constant reggae. Upon taking the stage as August Henderson he is equal parts standup working the club and party host keeping guests lubricated. Drinks are handed out to the audience from a trolley.
We join August at home, Jesus and Bob Marley side by side on the wall of Natalie Pryce’s snug set, as he recounts his 52 years in England since arriving from Jamaica on his mother’s passport aged eight. Before May pops up, there are sparing flash-forwards to the devastating impact of her government’s immigration policy on the Windrush generation. August flinches as CCTV footage of his eventual wrongful detention briefly plays on the back wall. But this story is lighter and more linear than Roy Williams’ powerful contribution to the BBC’s Soon Gone series of Windrush monologues, in which Henry’s character Cyrus was introduced in the grip of confusion, his past and present entwined in a tragic spiral.
