Mlima’s Tale at the Kiln Theatre – Reviews

"Lynn Nottage movingly exposes the corruption and cruelty of poaching"

"There’s impatience for justice or accountability following a big reveal early on – but neither arrives"

"... this new production of Pulitzer-winner Lynn Nottage’s fable of human greed and animal cruelty, under the direction of Miranda Cromwell, is a brutal, beautiful experience."

"Ira Mandela Siobhan’s physicality as Mlima is phenomenal. His body moves like liquid and stone all at once; he is vulnerable yet imposing, soft yet immovable. Moments that have the potential to feel clunky in the wrong hands are instead lent a haunting, mesmerising quality thanks to Shelley Maxwell’s movement direction."

"There’s some impressive multi-roleing from the remaining cast of four, who step into a rich tapestry of characters – so many, that it occasionally feels confusing. Gabrielle Brooks is especially great, both fierce and funny."

"Nottage’s 2018 play is a sobering reminder of how loudly money talks, and how ready consumers are to turn a blind eye."

"The show’s scope does also present obstacles: scenes are brief; characters remain sketchy. It means we never get into any depth about who they are or the pressures driving them. Yet Miranda Cromwell’s fleet-footed production handles this well, the cast multitasking as many characters, which adds to the sense of twining complexity."

"What is not in doubt is the beauty and poignancy of Ira Mandela Siobhan’s performance as Mlima."

"A brutal, devastating drama about the ivory trade"

"An elephant murdered for its tusks haunts much of the action in Lynn Nottage's simple but remarkable play"

"Here is an elegant reminder, if one were needed, of the eternal allure of storytelling theatre at its most simple. Five performers on a bare stage immerse us, by the power of their words and movements alone, in the brutality and collusion of the international ivory trade, sweeping us from the great plains of Kenya to a dealer in Vietnam. This 90-minute narrative from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage is both remarkable and distressing, and so its UK premiere at the Kiln after a New York debut in 2018 is a significant event."

"There are occasional outbursts of overripe acting, but nothing can detract from the impact of magnificent Mlima’s supremely sad story."

"A haunting indictment of the ivory trade"

"It’s a play that jolts us awake by making us witness the elephant Mlima’s death, so that we feel the full obscenity of the murder before encountering the international chain of low lives and social climbers who profit from it."

"Some might worry that having an elephant’s spirit presiding over the whole production could seem overwrought and sentimental, but Nottage’s wit and scalpel-sharp script means the impact feels as plausible as it is profound."

"As Mlima, Ira Mandela Siobhan is an arresting, authoritative physical presence. Amelia Jane Hankin’s subtle, poetic design means that we see him in human form while the shadowy shape of an elephant head looms behind him."

"A gut punch from Lynn Nottage"

"Lynn Nottage lays bare the horror of the ivory trade in a powerful play about the bloody price of beauty"

"The double Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage’s simple, effective, and quietly devastating play'

"You feel the infuriating complexity of the web into which these sweatily desperate, venal, entitled characters are woven – and the dismaying sense of how hard it would be to unpick it builds relentlessly."

"Amelia Jane Hankin’s design, involving an underused raised revolve and flimsy curtains pulled back and forth to indicate scene changes, is deliberately sparse but rather underwhelming, and the shadow work employed to suggest an elephant presence is not as effective as you’d hope. But this is a powerful howl of a play that makes you question what we’re willing to pay for beauty."

"Haunted by the elephant who would not forget"

"Ira Mandela Siobhan plays a pachyderm in Lynn Nottage’s indictment of the ivory trade, leaving traces on those who murdered him and sold his tusks"

"It is said that if you don’t give an elephant a proper burial, it will haunt you forever. In Lynn Nottage’s wide-reaching and damning indictment of the ivory trade, the memories of dead elephants knot themselves throughout."

"In physical interactions that make arresting tableaux yet are occasionally unhandy in practice, the ever-lurking ghost leaves a white chalky trace on the faces and clothes of the living, marking their part in his murder."

"The cast of five (one more than in the original American production) shapeshift as we constantly meet new characters... But the constant mutations, marked by a swish of a curtain, make it hard for tension to build. While Nottage’s story encapsulates the complex struggles of conservation and the deep-rooted tentacles of corruption, we rarely pause long enough in each vignette to delve deeply into the players of the brutal drama."

"Yet the strength of this constant forward propulsion is in the revelation of the huge swathe of people who have to turn their head and accept a bribe for the illegal ivory trade to continue."

"Lynn Nottage’s experimental drama about the ivory trade is punchy but it feels like there could be more to it"

"The story is a simple one that tracks process rather than lingering on the emotions of those we meet along the way – sometimes, we could benefit from staying in each section longer."

"Together, it is a beautifully curated spectacle – even if it sometimes is a little too neatly tailored to sustain tension. Scenes are ended by the draw of a flowy, translucent curtain. An elephant head hangs, menacing above the stage. Music and sound designed by Femi Temowo and Emma Laxton provide eerie echoes of the animal’s past, carefree life. The whole picture is one of grace, care and properly deep sadness."