August In England at Bush Theatre

The poster tells you that August In England is Lenny Henry's first play and that alone was enough to get a ticket.

I had seen quite a lot of Lenny Henry over his long career starting with New Faces in 1975, Tiswas from 78 to 81 and all the way through to The Witcher: Blood Origin in 2022. I was not going to miss the opportunity to see him in a small theatre playing a part that he wrote.

I booked it back in October, when it was first announced, and having been caught out slightly by a person with large hair on my previous visit I went for the front row, seat AA9, which cost a mere £22.5 due to my pensioner's discount.

Sadly Bush Theatre had stopped doing food and I did not have an established pre-theatre eating place so I looked for one on the walk up from Gunnesbury Station. I finally ended up in the large pub on the corner of Shepherd's Bush and Goldhawk Road which now calls itself Sindercombe Social where a halloumi and chips was well received.

The set was simple and, so it turned out, so was the production. To be honest, it was far more like a monologue than a play. That is merely to clarify its content, and does not diminish it in any way.

Lenny Henry told us the story of a man who, as part of the Windrush generation, came here as a young child. His story was at times ordinary, poignant and funny but always engaging and entertaining. Lenny Henry's fifty years as a performer stood him in excellent stead.

The changing moods of the story, as with any life story it has its up, downs and funny moment, carried us along happily for over an hour.

Then we got to the Windrush Scandal and the story turned dark. For the second time in two nights I was watching a play about the UK's harsh and inhumane immigration policies and for the second time in two days I was saddened, angry and ashamed.

August In England was a very human and very real story told by a master. It was both an entertainment and a political message, and that made it good theatre.