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 Nine Night, written by Natasha Gordon and directed by Emilia Teglia, is a look at family ties intergenerational relations and the changing face of modern Britain. After an illness, Robert (Chukwudi Onwere) and Lorraine’s (Nia Woodward) mother dies. Following Jamaican tradition, this causes three generations of the family, including Lorraine’s daughter Anita (Shona Delaville), Robert’s partner Sophie (Lucy Moss), and their Aunt Maggie (Mitsy June) and Uncle Vince (Peta Barker) to come together in Lorraine’s flat for the traditional mourning. However, as ‘nine night’, the culmination of the wake, approaches, tempers start to fray, past wounds are reopened and new secrets emerge.
 The best way to describe the play, which runs for around two hours counting the interval, is like a slowly burning fuse. At the start, everything is low-key, with everyone, trying to put a brave face on things. However, as the plot develops, the tension gradually increases, with money worries and an unexpected pregnancy adding a degree of urgency to the celebrations. With the unexpected appearance of half-sister Trudy (Vanessa Cruickshank) these pressures further increase, before eventually exploding in what the production deliberately leaves open as either a moment of hysteria or a genuinely supernatural experience
 Another major theme of the play is how each of the characters views themselves in relation to Jamaica and Britain. While Maggie has a understandably cynical view of Britain, especially its “teefing government”, Robert and Lorraine have both their feet and hearts in the UK, looking down at Trudy, who stayed “behind”. Indeed, there is a telling moment when Robert patronises Trudy about flying, only for her to reveal that her successful career as a designer sees her regularly commute between Jamaica and Miami, an indication of the “mother country’s” loosening hold on the Caribbean imagination.
 The differences between the characters are also brought out by the strong performances from the cast. Particular highlights are Shona Delaville as the activist granddaughter Anita, Lucy Moss as Robert’s earnest partner Sophie, who it is hinted has been effectively disowned by her own family, and Onwere as the wheeler-dealer Robert. The cast are ably supported by a production team that includes Phillip Ley who designed the interior of Gloria’s house where the action takes place, Samantha Jones who did the costumes (including Anita’s colourful creations) and Nick Insley and Feiyang Yang who did the lighting and the sound respectively. Angelika Michitsch was Stage Manager while Bianca Curaçao was Assistant Director.
Overall, this is an excellent production of a good play, which combines drama and comedy, and even a dash of horror.
Photography by David Sprecher
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