The Christ Of Coldharbour Lane…

I attended a theatre discussion earlier this year where Oladipo Agboluaje was one of the panellists and I liked him a lot. He was funny, unassuming and quite smart with the ability to nutshell a point without boring the arse off everyone.

So I’m glad I liked his play, The Christ Of Coldharbour Lane, currently on at Soho Theatre in Dean Street, London.

This satire follows a former mental patient who hooks up with a Christian mission in Brixton to spread the Word. Unfortunately he’s not massively interested in the message of the mission as he’s convinced he is the Messiah come to wake slumbering Brixtonians out of their consumerist sleepwalk.

But nobody will believe him until he performs a miracle – and when he does all hell breaks loose…

The writing is very strong and Agboluaje’s dialogue is sharp and funny. Some of the script feels like it needs a bit of a trim and the cast were still feeling their way a little bit on the second night, but it’s a wonderfully funny, moving and even thought-provoking piece.

And it’s an all-black cast, which is something you don’t see in the West End too much.

The directing by Paulette Randall is also worth mentioning, too, as it’s very fluid with actors playing several roles and slipping in and out of costume and character on stage.

It’s very much an ensemble piece but Jimmy Akingbola as would-be Messiah Omo is very strong, the Smoking Room’s Nadine Marshall as his friend Dona is nicely underplayed and Dona Croll is at turns very funny and a little bit tragic as hooker/stripper Maria Maudlin.

All in all it’s a pretty fab night out.