Theatre review: Roll On The Day at the Etcetera Theatre
Thought-provoking musical drama about immigrant street artist leaves you wanting more
The first two-thirds of this new musical drama seem straightforward enough: Eko, a Nigerian immigrant, is doing his best to make an honest living as a street artist in London.
Cockney street vendor Dan and Eko joke around and sing catchy songs about meeting the women of their dreams.
Posh, art-loving Lavinia turns up and, much to Dan’s annoyance, takes a keen interest in his mate. “I love your body of work,” she sings to Eko. “She loves my body!” he repeats hopefully.
But in the last third it all unravels. Eko, it turns out, is here illegally, having fled “a country betrayed by scumbag politicians” for his own safety a decade before.
There follows a satire of sorts on our own corrupt United Kingdom, involving highly topical collusion between “scumbag” journalists and corrupt police, who think nothing of blackmailing Eko to achieve their goals.
The three lead actors perform this simple, thought-provoking tale more than competently, with Amersackie Osakonor giving the strongest performance, as Eko. Composer Laurence Mark Wythe has written some decent tunes, although at just an hour long I left Roll On The Day wanting more.
Most Read
- 1 Police called to 'youth with knife trying to climb school gates'
- 2 Jailed: 9 north London offenders put behind bars in June
- 3 Guilty: Man murdered woman at bus stop and tried to kill another a day later
- 4 'Reclaiming public spaces': Islington's free nonconformist street party
- 5 Covid: North London hospital admissions rising amid national surge
- 6 MP steps in to get Ukrainian violinist to concert with Islington orchestra
- 7 Bullying and absence concerns see City of London Academy Highgate Hill get ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted
- 8 Concerts to be held across Islington as festival returns.
- 9 What to see in the sky in July: Year's biggest supermoon and meteor showers
- 10 Call to get vaccinated amid Covid surge
* Roll On The Day is at the Etcetera Theatre, Camden High Street, NW1, until April 15