More companies should hire this evocative fragment of Victorian London: the Old Operating Theatre offers a wonderfully atmospheric little wooden amphitheatre that’s the perfect size for a fringe show. Karena Johnson’s production of Alex Burger’s new play gets the venue right, then, but it’s on to a clunker with the well researched but dramatically weak script.
We are transported to the 1830s, where African immigrant Efua (Candice Onyeama) pledges to share the tale of woe that led to her husband’s demise. Full of interesting titbits about medicine of the day (including the body-snatching exploits of the ‘resurrectionists’) and the experiences of African immigrants in Victorian London, Burger would appear to know his stuff.
But convincing dialogue and characters elude him: when Efua falls for fanatical young surgeon Forester, Burger simply has her tell us this happened. Much of what happens in ‘Whose Blood’ is reported not enacted, and as a result the characters never remotely engage.