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The Icarus Girl
The Broadway smash hit Wicked has arrived in the West End
Director: Holly Race
Details: Arcola Theatre, 27 Arcola Street, London E8 2DJ
Performances: Nightly shows at 8:15 pm until 28 April
Running time: 2h
LondonNet theatre review
In short: A spellbinding venture into the world of a young and lonely girl, whose otherworldly companion may not be as innocent as she seems.
In full: Eight-year-old Jessamy Harrison is not like the other students at her London primary school. The only child of a Nigerian mother and an English father, she is aloof, mysterious and so fearful of the unknown that she would rather hide alone in cupboards than play outside.
When Jess accompanies her parents to visit her grandfather in Nigeria, she finally meets someone she finds trustworthy. Titiola, (or TillyTilly, as Jess nicknames her) becomes the withdrawn youth's only friend, assuring her that what others say makes her weird only makes her unique. But only Jess can see this newfound companion, reinforcing her family's assumptions that she is mentally unsound.
Back in London, TillyTilly reappears, providing a welcome refuge for Jess when her classmates taunt her, her teacher scolds her and her parents punish her. After Jess learns the mysterious conditions of her birth, she realises she may have an unusual connection with her visitor.
Jess makes friends with Siobhan, the daughter of her psychologist, only to find that her socialising irritates TillyTilly. When trouble befalls those closest to her, Jess is horrified to realise that the same girl who once comforted her from her fears is now the source of them.
Is TillyTilly a ghost? A god? A separate personality created by Jess' troubled mind? The Icarus Girl examines the rifts between African Yoruba spiritualism and modern British culture and spotlights the uncertainties of one girl who lives her life in the crossroads.
Adapted for the stage and directed by Holly Race, the play is based on Helen Oyemi's acclaimed 2005 novel, which draws striking parallels to Toni Morrison's Beloved. The show's simple staging allows the talent of Adura Onashile (from the National Theatre's The Overwhelming) to shine, brilliantly capturing the passion and torment of young Jess.
Natalie Best (who played in the National Theatre's The Alchemist) is arresting as Titiola, and Simon Balfour (who has appeared on BBC's Doctors and Casualty) gives a heartbreaking performance of Daniel Harrison, Jess' father, while also performing the smaller roles of several other characters.
The Icarus Girl is a smartly-written and well-executed production--a reminder that when the spiritual world collides with the everyday, the happiness, health and sanity of young and old can dangle in the balance.
- Jill Hilbrenner