The Daily Telegraph - Features
Daring but disjointed tale of a school reunion
The Comeuppance
Almeida, London N1 ★★★★★
The National Theatre’s 2018 production of An Octoroon established Branden JacobsJenkins as a provocative, gifted playwright. That play stood out for its acid humour and bold metatheatricality – qualities that have carried over into the American’s new work, The Comeuppance.
On Ursula’s porch in Maryland, the “Multi-Ethnic Reject Group”, gather ahead of a school reunion. They track their transition from teenage to middle age with the Columbine massacre in 1999 through 9/11, the war in Afghanistan and Covid, remaining stuck in questionable decisions of their past.
This set-up resembles The Big Chill – but it wouldn’t be a Jacobs-Jenkins play without a daring flourish, confidently directed by Eric Ting. It arrives early in the form of Death, whose voice is doubled and distorted courtesy of Emma Laxton’s striking sound design. Death addresses the audience directly by first inhabiting the body of snottily condescending artist Emilio (Anthony Welsh), then the other characters in turn (all played by an excellent cast), adopting a British accent each time.
Death pops up in the miscarriages of Caitlin (Yolanda Kettle), who has made peace with her unhappy marriage. Ursula (Tamara Lawrance) nursed her grandmother to her recent death. Anaesthesiologist Kristina (Katie Leung) worked during the pandemic and has turned to drink. She is unexpectedly accompanied by her cousin Paco (Ferdinand Kingsley), a traumatised veteran.
And yet Jacobs-Jenkins doesn’t seem to know what to make of all these calamities. And while Covid is frequently mentioned, this very recent global event doesn’t easily mesh with the 20-year span of the soul-searching that underpins the rest of the play. Jacobs-Jenkins is a fine playwright – here, however, he doesn’t find his mark.
Until May 18; almeida.co.uk