Adapted from the novel by Andrea Levy, Helen Edmundson’s stage version of Small Island is a perceptive and sensitive exploration of the lives of people adapting to change. 

This sweeping saga moves from Jamaica at the end of the 1930s to post-war London, exploring the ups and downs of human experience, with a solid dose of humour thrown in for good measure. 
Intent on beginning a new life in 1940s Britain, Hortense (Anna Crichlow) and Gilbert (Daniel Ward) leave Jamaica and lodge in London with landlady Queenie (Bronté Barbé). Here, they face racist attitudes and discrimination alongside the challenges of adapting to a new culture. 

The spirited and frank-speaking Queenie is unusual for her time - she defies society’s conventions to welcome Hortense and Gilbert into her home. Her husband, Bernard (Mark Arends), in contrast, is reserved and somewhat awkward. Returning home from the war, he struggles to make sense of the way in which his world is changing.

And so we see, through the eyes of these two couples, a world of upheaval, the need to adapt, the effects of bigoted attitudes and prejudice. We see hope and despair, sadness and joy, resilience and resignation. 

Small Island is set more than 80 years ago, but its message resonates with a contemporary audience and challenges us to consider whether, in many respects, little has changed since the Windrush Generation landed on British shores. Moments of optimism contrast with darker themes and suggest hope for the future. The epic story leads us through a whole spectrum of emotion - it is impossible not to be caught up in this compelling portrayal of human existence.

As Hortense and Queenie, two strong and fascinating female characters, Crichlow and Barbé are superb. Their slightly clumsy first encounters develop into a relationship based on shared experience and understanding, culminating in an ending to the play which reflects the importance and value of trust. 

In the sensitive portrayals of Bernard (Arends) and Gilbert (Ward), we see two men who at times live a little in the shadow of their wives, and who have been shaped and scarred by the challenges and unhappiness they have faced. Although they come to blows, they share more experience than they might ever realise.

The inventive set is beautiful in its simplicity, evoking the modest restraint of life in a country recovering from war. A production as strong as this doesn’t need a fancy backdrop - the words and magnetic performances speak loudly and clearly for themselves.

Small Island is storytelling at its finest, a striking tale of human experience and an extraordinary piece of theatre. Visually impressive and with a captivating plot, it is surely one not to miss.

Five stars

Reviewed by Rachel Smith at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on Thursday 2 April. Small Island continues to show at the venue until  Saturday 18 April

Photography by Pamela Raith