Lenny Henry wants everyone to join in with this life-affirming piece of theatre

Telegraph

2 days ago

It takes a brave soul to embark on a live stage show which relies on the participation of dozens of audience members: the theatrical equivalent of wobbling across a tightrope while juggling fiery chainsaws. Yet it's key to this popular 2014 play, which makes its long-awaited West End debut after being performed in more than 80 countries. While ostensibly a solo piece, in practice it's a true group effort – though, on its opening night, the blazingly charismatic Lenny Henry resolutely led the charge.
The story centres on a man whose clinically depressed mum attempts suicide when he's seven years old. He begins writing her a list of everything that's brilliant about the world, and keeps adding to it throughout his life. The show's performer hands multiple audience members numbered cards in advance: when he reaches that number on the list, they're invited to call out their entry. A few people are also asked to play supporting characters, like a taciturn dad or a sock-puppet-wielding school counsellor.
Henry sets a high bar in this new run, which features a rotating cast of actors succeeding him over the next three months: Minnie Driver, Sue Perkins, Ambika Mod, and Jonny Donahoe (the show's co-creator, with Duncan Macmillan, and its original performer). Macmillan co-directs here with Jeremy Herrin, who helmed the former's award-winning play People, Places & Things.
It's hardly surprising that Henry, who's been doing stand-up since he was 15, is so at ease with this high-wire, interactive format. But it's still enormous fun watching him take charge of the intimate, in-the-round @sohoplace auditorium and roll with the punches. When an audience member stumbles or says something unexpected, Henry coaches them warmly while adding wry ad libs and pulling expressive faces. On my night, the woman playing his girlfriend confessed she couldn't read the blurb of the book he'd handed her, and several people volunteered their glasses. A delighted Henry quipped: 'It's like Specsavers in here!'
But, crucially, this is just-about-controlled chaos: Henry always leads us back to the story, which has deeply affecting moments. He slips into a shy, hunched physicality as the boy and, when he cradles a jacket in his arms, we fully believe it's his beloved dog, Ronnie Barker, being put to sleep. He poignantly describes this first experience of death as 'a loved one becoming an object'. Macmillan has also personalised the script for each performer, which enhances Henry's confessional delivery. When his dad cooks his girlfriend lasagne, for instance, Henry protests: 'What kind of Jamaican are you?'
The piece wrestles with weighty ideas, like how a parent's mental illness affects their child's development. And the communal storytelling format remains a neat demonstration of the play's central thesis: it's vital to reach out and connect with one another, whether through therapy or theatre. This life-affirming show proves that and more – an absolute tonic.