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Review: Death and the Kings Horseman
By Tola Ositelu
A play by former Poet Laureate
Wole Soyinka,
Death and the Kings Horseman is a clash-of-culture tale set in the land of the Yoruba people of western Nigeria circa early 1940s.
The Alafin, King of the Oyo people, dies after a lengthy reign. Tradition has it that his Horseman, Elesin (a dedicated performance by Nonso Anozie) is to commit ritual suicide to commemorate the death of his king and join the monarch on the other side. As Elesin prepares for his demise, he appropriates a new wife from her formerly betrothed and enjoys the lavish send-off the villagers bestow on him. However, colonial misgivings about the practice in the form of the District Officer, Simon Pilkings and his socialite wife, Jane, threaten to scupper Elesin’s plans before he can say his final goodbye.
Horseman… is a feast for the eyes from the moment the large ensemble cast dance, weave and glide their way onto the stage. The set is colourful and lush; opulent without being distasteful or over-indulgent. The show bursts to life with some energetic choreography, singing and light-hearted banter amongst the characters, the cast looking like they are having a genuinely good time.
However things soon grind to a halt as the dialogue between Elesin and his Praise Singer (played with gusto, despite a dubious Nigerian accent, by Giles Terera) becomes dangerously turgid. Their conversations are over-laden with adages and allegories. I know we Nigerians have a penchant for figurative language but too much of it becomes tiring on the ears. My eyes glazed over for a sizeable chunk of the first few scenes of Horseman... as it seemed that the play was falling victim to Soyinka’s verbose, slightly pompous writing-style, its pace being lost in an abundance of language.
Thankfully there are a few sonic interludes to break things up courtesy of the musical director Michael Henry. The multi-talented cast treat us to some acappella singing complete with delicious harmonies.
Ghanaian-born, British actor Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is fast establishing himself as one of the UK’s most versatile young thespians. Chances are that over the past couple of years you would have caught at least one of his many TV and theatre appearances. Be it as part of the ensemble cast of the BBC’s sophisticated one-for-the-kids comedy sketch show Sorry, I’ve Got No Head, impersonating Kofi Annan on ‘Star Stories’ or starring as Jeremy Charles, the ambitious mayoral candidate with a slight messiah-complex in Kwame-Kwei Armah’s play Seize the Day - Kobna is popping up everywhere.
Taking a break from rehearsals for his new play at the Young Vic (August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone), an eloquent and measured Kobna chats to SoulCulture in the theatre’s sunlit bar overlooking London Waterloo.