Let There Be Love

Back from the theatre again ... this time Kwame Kwei Armah's 'Let There Be Love' at the Tricycle. A surprise to see such a domestic drama from this writer .. but also a delight. I've seen some reviews complaining of sentimentality, but that didn't bother me at all. I'd rather see something sentimental that moves me than an intellectual piece of political drama that leaves me cold. And move me it did - tears dripping off my chin by the end! It was a very traditional piece with a realistic set with the dreaded sofa at the centre- but this is the exception that proves the rule (the rule being that any play with a sofa in it is likely to be pedestrian and unimaginative. Unfair prejudice, possibly - but think about it). The subject matter of the play was of course (given the writer) contemporary, and the evening was made by the superlative performance of Lydia Leonard as Polish home help Maria - it's hard to imagine a better performance. Joseph Marcel takes the lead, and is, as always, marvellous. I first saw him playing Othello at the Lyric Hammersmith and have never seen him turn in a bad performance (and that includes the ultimate tosh that is The Fresh Prince of Bel Air). Sharon Duncan-Brewster completes the cast, as the spikey and difficult daughter - a character who in less competent hands could be unsympathetic. A moving and engaging show. Let there be love indeed.