In 1908, Princess Dinubolu of Senegal made history at the Kursaal amusement park in Southend-on-Sea. She became the first Black woman ever to enter a beauty pageant, despite receiving a telegram trying to deter her. Anne Odeke’s play, which is expanded from her 2022 monologue of the same name, uses this history as a starting point, but reshapes the Princess as an Essex-born woman named Joanna.
In this version, Joanna (also played by Odeke) decides to disguise herself as a princess to be allowed to compete. But, with so many backstories squeezed into Odeke’s script, it takes a long time to actually get to the height of the drama. The play introduces the mayor of the city and his daughter (a screeching and hilariously spoilt, Eloise Secker), the couple who own the Kursaal and even the King, Edward VII, who treats us to a full blown song about his flirtatious tendencies. All are fine enough characters, but take the focus off the pageant.
Whole scenes could be chopped out of ‘Princess Essex’ which is the first new play staged at the Globe’s outside theatre since ‘I, Joan’ back in 2022. Similarly, to Charlie Josephine’s play, Odeke’s rages is fuill of timely questions. Through the character Batwa (a fantastic, Alison Halstead) a member of a tribe of ‘pygmies’ who was brought over to the UK and paraded like a circus act, Joanna’s eyes are opened to her own societal position. She leaves behind her mistress and starts to question everything she’s learnt to accept. ‘I somehow saw me for the very first time,’ she says.
There is nuanced discussion of class, race and lived experience and how they all interlink. But, it is also a jolly holiday of a night. Songs, including ‘I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside’ become a regular feature – the tune even contorts into a minor key at a point of tension, and the chorus numbers, which have bouncy dance moves and jazz hands are a highlight.
Directed by Robin Belfield, the whole stage shrieks with life. But ultimately, it belongs to Odeke, who has the skill of performance running through her veins. Her take on Joanna veers on stand-up and her asides are so quick and natural, it is hard to believe they’re actually scripted. If Odeke hoped to fight for this tale’s right to become better known, then she’s certainly made a good case.
