Seeds review – racism drama is emotional but clunkily contrived
over 5 years in The guardian
Leeds PlayhouseWith echoes of the murder of Stephen Lawrence, Mel Pennant’s new play focuses on the mothers who are left behind
Racism, as Mel Pennant’s new play explores, does not come from nowhere. It is planted by society, its roots extending through soil nurtured by bigoted jokes and casual slurs. A xenophobic gag and a racist murder might not be comparable, but Pennant suggests that they lie on the same continuum.
Jackie (Penny Layden) angrily insists that the R-word, as she calls it, does not apply to her and her family. Turning up on the doorstep of Evelyn (Judith Jacob), whose teenage son Michael was brutally murdered 15 years ago to the day, Jackie begs her to let the past lie. Perhaps the attack wasn’t racially motivated, she suggests. Perhaps it was just an accident. Continue reading...
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