Zodwa Nyoni’s affecting, if uneven play is about autism and racism in 1980s Leeds, but above all it’s a loving observation of one British-Jamaican family’s dynamic. At its heart is an extraordinary performance from actor Lee Phillips, who is autistic, as Dwight, an 11-year-old whose condition is not even medically recognised. Director Nancy Medina could usefully have tightened the play’s focus, but the delineation of the relationships between Dwight, his older sister Shirley, their mother Josephine and father Leroy is beautifully done.
It starts in the present day, at Josephine’s funeral, and is then told mostly in flashback. Dwight likes having his hair brushed, the smell of his mother’s perfume, and dancing to Stevie Wonder. Loud noises and conflict upset him. Josephine, a nurse, calms him and encourages him to verbalise. At school and during teatime, Shirley is literally her brother’s keeper. Leroy, laid off from the local boiler factory and involved in the anti-racism protests sweeping Leeds’s Chapeltown – and also Toxteth, Moss Side, Handsworth and Brixton – struggles to relate to his son.
