The Bush Theatre has established itself as one of London’s top venues for “gripping” family dramas, and its latest production is no exception. “My Father’s Fable” delves into a complex set of family dynamics and a secret that has been carefully concealed between generations.
While it might not be as “polished” as some of the theatre’s other offerings, said Isobel Lewis in Time Out, Faith Omole’s debut play certainly “packs a punch”.
Set in London, the action follows disillusioned history teacher Peace (Tiwa Lade) who is living with her adoring boyfriend Roy (Gabriel Akuwudike) and grieving the death of her father. When her estranged half-brother Bolu (Theo Ogundipe) comes to visit from Nigeria, she has many questions including, most important of all, why her father never told her about him. “What follows”, said Anya Ryan in The Guardian, “is a slick, if slightly melodramatic, revelation of who this stranger actually is.”
Directed by Rebekah Murrell and written by Olivier award-nominated actor Omole (best known for Channel 4’s “We are Lady Parts”), the play explores complicated family relationships “with flair” and “keeps you guessing” right to the end.
Omole has a knack for “authentic and rich” dialogue with “deadpan humour”, said Dave Fargnoli in The Stage. The interactions between characters are often “eliciting gasps” from the audience, and a “snarky one-liner” brings the house down”.
Despite Peace’s best efforts to create a “clean and ordered” place to live, “danger threatens”: a gradually widening crack runs through the ceiling of her perfect home, hinting at her fractured identity.
XANA’s “gorgeous” sound design, together with Simisola Majekodunmi’s lighting, keeps the audience “held like the characters with one foot always in London and the other in Nigeria”, said Charlotte Vickers in What’s On Stage.
Rakie Ayola is a “first-class scene stealer” as Peace’s “overbearing yet secretly paranoid” mother, Favour, who “worms her way” into her daughter’s home in order to try and keep her away from her half-brother. As “hilarious” as she is “hateable”, said Lewis in Time Out, her behaviour, it soon emerges, stems from her desire to hide a “dark family secret that threatens the sanctity of their entire family”.
With so many plot threads “swirling around”, the show is a bit slow to get going and the storylines can be “hard to keep track of”. However, it starts to feel more “streamlined” in the second act and the “big twist” is genuinely surprising. “My Father’s Fable” might not be the “perfect” production but Omole’s script demonstrates her talent as a writer who “knows how to tell one hell of a story”.
At Bush Theatre, London, until 27 July