Urban World

Off The Endz

Cast:
Madeline Appiah
Brandon Benoit-Joyce
Omar Brown
Lorraine Burroughs
Thomas Eghator
Daniel Francis
Rene Gray
Ashley Walters
Natasha Williams

"My future is here. My aim is clear and simple. I want out. I wanna be rich. I'm not gonna pretend it's anything more than that and I want it now."

“Off the Endz” is the much anticipated follow up play to Bola Agbaje's Olivier Award winning West End debut “Gone to far”. Set in an inner-city London estate Agbaje yet again highlights the plight of the young black people seemingly trapped in a cycle of poverty, crime and limitations. The play opens with the release of David (Walters) from jail, and with no other options he returns to ‘the ends' to stay with childhood friends Kojo (Francis) and Sharon (Burroughs). Kojo and Sharon are expecting their first baby and have great aspirations to leave the estate and pursue a better life, a life without crime, a life where legitimate hard work and determination overshadow the violent currency of the streets. However, this dream is thrown into disarray when Kojo looses his job and David's lucrative but illegal activities begin to look appealing. Kojo, now unable to provide for his family funds David's drug ‘business' in the pursuit of quick cash, which leads to him catching a bullet for his best friend. As family life disintegrates and dreams turn into nightmares, Kojo must make a decision between his woman or his friend.

This play has been heavily criticised for being ‘just another black play', dealing with the familiar stereotypes of gangs, violence and poverty. I am inclined to agree, whilst Agbaje attempts to emphasise the themes of social responsibility and aspiration of black people, I was left feeling underwhelmed and frustrated at the negative portrayal of urban life. The dialogue flowed well between characters and humour was used successfully as respite from the dark undertones of the play. The acting on the whole was engaging, dramatic and believable with especially emotive performances from Ashley Walters and Lorraine Burroughs. The plot was somewhat simplistic and unsophisticated and in parts lacked pace and depth, again leaving me unsatisfied. The play only ran for 1hour 10mins, which did not allow for an extensive exploration of the subject matter, which I felt it deserved. However, on a lighter note it was refreshing to see the positive portrayal of hard working, honest, black professionals against the gritty backdrop of London life. This idea of aspiring for a better life through adversity made this play well worth seeing. The main 3 characters take the audience on a journey of choice, responsibility and consequence in the pursuit of getting ‘off the endz'.

Rating- 7/10

Written by Travis Prosper and Vicki Elliott