A tightly delivered and highly professional musical offering. Set in the British black community, musical production The Big Life is one of two well-received plays running in the West End.

The Big Life was created at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, from where it transferred to its current home at the Apollo Theatre, having had two full runs in Stratford and having been four and a half years in development.

The story centres on the ‘Windrush experience’ of West Indian immigrants arriving in the mother country and begins with the docking of the Windrush ship, when we are introduced to an appealing cast of carpenters, musicians and hopeful university lecturers, each full of aspirations and optimism about their respective futures and fortunes.

However, within a short time, we also witness the rapid decline of this initial euphoria, into disillusionment and despondency, as the harsh weather and the cruel realities of betrayed optimism, racism, rejection and homelessness confront the characters.

The plot is not a complex one and comprises the stitching together of these and other emigrant experiences, underpinned by themes of disappointment and rejection, all of which are ably and successfully executed by a cast of twelve. Although individual characters are not developed to any real extent, this does not interfere with the universality of the themes discussed.

Despite the importance of some of the darker themes explored, the theatrical experience is not a bleak one. Much to the enjoyment of the partly black audience, the tone was, for the most part, light-hearted with many enjoyable comic moments and therefore many opportunities for the audience to enjoy a hearty laugh.

Often the many comedy moments sprang from the portrayal of the frequently stereotyped optimistic West Indian approach to life, reinforced, in this instance, by song and dance interludes, and in particular, the readiness of West Indians to see the humour in adversity and to make light of difficult situations. This particular comedic theme is given further prominence by the theatrical device of Mrs. Aphrodite, a middle-aged Jamaican woman, who provides a hilarious commentary from one of the boxes, observing the characters’ progress and giving us the benefit of her own perspective on how some of the West Indian experiences played out on stage, have since been translated into contemporary life.

Pleasingly, the black community was well represented in the audience, a sight which is not as common as it might be in the West End.

The story of the ‘Windrush experience’ is a significant one in the context of the history of London itself and of a community which forms an important constituent part of many cities in today’s Britain. These are communities which have played, and which continue to play, a determining role in the shaping of popular culture. It is therefore important that second generation West Indians and indigenous white Londoners alike, appreciate the many adversities of the historical emigrant experience and that they do not take for granted what their predecessors endured for the sake of some of the freedoms which would be expected today.

Given that the author, Philip Headley has chosen the vehicle of a musical rather than a novel, to give creative form to his ideas, the emigrant situation portrayed in The Big Life, is more the Sam Selvon of Lonely Londoners than that of V.S. Naipaul’s, Ralph Singh of The Mimic Men. Nevertheless, The Big Life is a tightly delivered and highly professional offering which makes for a thoroughly enjoyable night out.

The Big Life continues its run until November.

Cast includes: Geoff Aymer, Claudia Cadette, Tameka Empson, Amanda Horlock, Antonia Kemi Coker, Jason Pennycooke, Marcus Powell, Neil Reidman, Yvette Rochester Duncan, Victor Romero Evans, Chris Tummings and Yaa.
Music by: Paul Joseph; Lyrics by: Paul Sirett; Book by: Paul Sirett; Director: Clint Dyer