There is a potent moment in Recognition when a student at a prestigious British music college confronts her tutor about the lack of Black British composers on the syllabus. Why is the canon so white, she asks, and throws out names of some who might feature. Among them is Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, a Victorian of dual heritage who lived in Croydon and earned global celebrity as the “African Mahler”.
Co-created by writer Amanda Wilkin and director Rachael Nanyonjo, this story of what happened to Coleridge-Taylor (Paul Adeyefa) is narrated by the student, Song (Kibong Tanji), and enacted in parallel scenes. Structurally, it is reminiscent of Jasmine Lee Jones’s Curious: we see how the story of a past, lone, burning talent affects and inspires a present-day character.
Talawa’s production is led by Coleridge-Taylor’s compositions alongside music by the Mercury prize-nominated Cassie Kinoshi. The band play at the back of the stage, with piano, cello, bass, drums and violins creating the drama’s soaring moments.
The script packs in everything from Coleridge-Taylor’s childhood bullying to his economic hardship and his US tours, and covers Song’s experiences of racial prejudice and her response to the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020. While the scenes are short, the pace still lags at times. Characters exchange information or describe themselves and talk through the play’s themes, which leaves us emotionally outside the drama. But the script comes to life with some witty and intimate moments and Song’s story gains emotional depth in the second act when her life and Coleridge-Taylor’s become better entwined.
Nanyonjo’s direction has elegance but some of her choreography is hackneyed such as the raising of chairs in slow motion. Jasmine Swan’s fluid set of tables and chairs is niftily rearranged but a back screen of abstract lights resembles the visuals of a cheesy meditation video.
The central performances are strong and Song’s parents (played by Deborah Tracey and David Monteith) are a surprising highlight, however minor their parts. The playtext speaks of Coleridge-Taylor’s fame as equal to that of John Lennon or Paul McCartney and he was clearly considered one of the most important musicians of his time. So why isn’t he better known and celebrated now?
At Fairfield Halls, London, until 24 June
