Love in a difficult climate: Cat Simmons (Chess) and Gbemisola Ikumelo (Serena). Photograph by Richard Davenport
Play: Hopelessly Devoted
Theatre: Tricycle Theatre
Playwright: Kate Tempest
Directors: James Grieve and Stef O’Driscoll
Review by Mesha McNeil
Hopelessly Devoted, Kate Tempest’s third theatrical offering, is set in a women’s prison. Directed by Stef O’Driscoll and James Grieve of the Paines Plough theatre company, the play explores the depths of the incarcerated psyche through love, separation, isolation and redemption.
Inmate Chess (Cat Simmons) finds freedom while incarcerated through singing. Her vocal talents spread through the prison and penetrates the walls, much to the entertainment – and despair – of the other inmates, who both cheer and heckle in equal measure.
Chess’ biggest fan is cell mate Serena (Gbemisola Ikumelo). Chess and Serena, both mothers separated from their children, share an authentic bond which is threatened by Serena’s impending release date.
Silver, a surprising Michelle Gayle, is a once famous music producer whose rise has been curtailed by a previous addiction to drugs. She also struggles to recruit Chess onto the prison’s music programme.
The power dynamic between Chess and Silver is in a constant state of flux, reflected by the oversized chess board serving as the play’s backdrop. White squares on the board are used as mood lighting, ranging from the clinical and oppressive, dark and isolating, to warm and comforting.
The lyricism of poet/rapper/writer Kate Tempest really shines through in this piece. Staged like a music concert, it is multi-layered in drama with a generous sprinkling of a spoken word performance.
Far from being a musical (no jazz hands or gleeful performances), Hopelessly Devoted is full of grit and intensity. The vocal performances are solidly part of the drama.
Silver finds it hard to break through Chess’ fortified exterior to draw out her vocal and writing talents. For music to be created, Chess has to delve deep to unlock her trapped feelings about her past crime, her daughter and her relationship with Serena.
Although Silver’s role is to support and encourage Chess, the prison environment reminds her of her own difficult past when her drug addiction caused her to do “bad things”.
With Serena’s impending release, she hopes to be reunited with her children, leaving behind her lover Chess, who is serving a longer sentence for a much dearer crime. The chemistry between Serena and Chess is riveting, a testament to Simmons and Ikumelo who make the reality of their separation truly sting.
The phenomenal ensemble cast make fantastic work of Tempest’s meaty dialogue. Top moments include the exploration of Chess and Serena’s relationship. Cell mates and lovers, they form tight bond, providing each other with comfort from their individual demons and internal conflicts.
There is a raw authenticity to their love. It’s romance sans fluff but with all the multi-dimensional humour, intimacy and despair of a real life connection.
By focusing on imprisoned women, Hopelessly Devoted succeeds in putting a human face on the criminals who are seen as on the bottom rung of society. Tempest expertly handles a troubling subject with great heart.
This play will make you laugh and clutch your chest. Go see.
Hopelessly Devoted is at the Tricycle Theatre until Saturday 19 April 2014.