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The Review - THEATRE by ANGELA COBBINAH
Published: 6 August 2009

Hollywood light on Haiti folk tale

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND
Hackney Empire

IF you like your musicals to be the show-time equivalent of candy floss then Once on this Island is definitely for you.
Premiered on Broadway in 1990 and revived by the Hackney Empire’s Pantomime queen Sue McKenna in a co-production with Birmingham Rep and Nottingham Playhouse, it is an exuberant mix of colour and energy that makes for a perfect outing for all the family, from Junior to Granny.
Set in colonial Haiti, it is the story of Ti Moune (Shyko Amos), an orphaned peasant girl whose fate it is to fall in love with the son of the local plantocracy.
It is bound to end in tears and it does.
Light on plot and with few memorable songs, the show is saved by the non-stop enthusiasm of the 11-strong ensemble. They include Sharon D Clarke in the role of Asaka, Mother Earth, one of four gods shaping Ti Moune’s destiny. She appeared in the show’s British premiere in 1994 and her vocal gymnastics are impressive to say the least.
Top marks also go to the silvery voiced Johnny Amobi (Agwe, god of water) and Jo Servi, who plays Papa Ge, Demon of Death to comically spooky effect.
Based loosely on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid and Rosa Guy’s novel My Love, My Love, Once on this Island opens on the night of a hurricane.
The villagers are sheltering from the storm and begin telling a folk tale to a young girl to calm her down. This is the story of Ti Moune, who falls in love with someone from “a different world” after urging intervention from the gods.
The shadow of slavery means that she can only be the mistress, never the bride.
With the Demon of Death grinning in the shadows, things don’t look good.
But this is more Hollywood than Haiti and the show ends on a high note, in fact with the best song of the night, “Why we tell the story”.
Until August 16
0208 985 2424

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