Mogadishu

Liverpool Playhouse
January 30 – February 4 (Then touring until March 31)

Author: Vivienne Franzmann
Director: Matthew Dunster
Producer: Lyric / Royal Exchange Theatre
Cast Includes: Ryan Clais Cameron, Rosie Wyatt, Jason Barnett, Jackie Clune, James Barriscale, Tendayi Jembere, Hammed Animashaun, Savannah Gordon-Liburd

Exquisite is the only true way of describing Mogadishu, as its beautifully written, expertly enacted, brilliantly directed and superbly produced script unfolds before our eyes with suck slick style, the audience becomes so fully ensconced in the story it is almost as though they too are participants in the drama.

When white secondary-school teacher Amanda is pushed to the ground by black student Jason, she’s reluctant to report him as she knows exclusion could condemn him to a future as troubled as his past.

But when Jason decided to protect himself by spinning a story of his own, Amanda is sucked into a vortex of lies in which victim becomes perpetrator. With the truth becoming less clear and more dangerous by the day, it isn’t long before careers, relationships and even lives are under threat.

Brilliant as young thug Jason, the central antagonist with hidden issues, is Ryan Clais Cameron. Menacing, overly hormonal, bullying and cowardly have never been done so well by one so young and the feel of the piece is encapsulated magnificently in a single confrontation with his over bearing father, played with understated threat magnificently by Nicholas Beveney.

However top of the list is Rosie Wyatt who as Becky, the daughter of the aggrieved teacher, Amanda, played exquisitely by Jackie Clune, is quite simply sensational. The emotion and passion she holds for the part is clear for all to see and every nuance squeezes the hidden inner torments Becky has out piece-by-piece until the reveal is finally uncovered. A first rate performance from a young actor who is destined to go far.
Indeed, there is not an actor – experienced or otherwise – who does not turn in a shift of the highest quality, thus making Mogadishu a production that should not be missed and quantifies perfectly what good, new theatre is all about.

Chris High

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