Please Do Not Touch
Mo Cross reviews at The Patrick Studio, Birmingham Hippodrome
A co-production between China Plate and Belgrade Theatre in association with Birmingham Hippodrome.
Written by Casey Bailey
Directed by Gail Babb
Casey Bailey’s Please Do Not Touch opened on 29th January at the Birmingham Hippodrome, launching a UK tour which will take phenomenal actor Selorm Adonu across the country to share this hard-hitting, beautifully written one-man show. Bailey was on air speaking with Ben Ellis on Switch Radio Breakfast recently, discussing the show and priming us for what to expect.
Please Do Not Touch developed from ideas Bailey first wrote about in his poetry collection of the same name, and it has become a piece of beautiful, poetic theatre. As former Birmingham Poet Laureate, he combined his experiences of growing up in Nechells with research and workshops in schools and prisons to get to grips with the issues facing young, black men in the justice system. The main character Mason struggles with what defines an action as right or legal, and how sometimes the only difference is who carries it out.
Dissecting power structures within the justice system and Britain’s colonial legacy, this show starts a conversation which can sometimes feel uncomfortable, but as associate producer Jade Samuels said in this podcast with Belgrade Theatre, there’s no point performing in an echo chamber if you want to reach the minds that need changing. Previously performed in both National Trust properties and prisons, they have taken it to the frontlines of where these conversations need to happen.
Words hold a lot of power in this story. Mason uses writing as a tool to cope with his incarceration in a Young Offender institution after taking an ‘artefact’ from a National Trust display, and speaks up repeatedly to ask why it was touched in the first place. His loss of words following the loss of a fellow inmate was so effective at conveying the deep emptiness that grief can print on a person’s mind, it stuck with me long after the show had finished. Poems are interlaced throughout, highlighting his strongest feelings, whether they be hope, desire or righteous fury.
Playing multiple characters at once, Selorm Adonu switches effortlessly between Mase and his prison guard Davis, Mase and his mother, while other characters exist only in the opinions and dialogue of the main characters. The way he uses every part of his body and voice to become each different character shows a level of attention and intent that is utterly impressive. As he took his bows to a standing ovation, it was almost a surprise to remember that it had only been one man on stage the entire time.
One of the things I love about going to see plays in spaces like the Patrick Studio is the ingenuity that the production teams show when creating the world beyond the four walls. Directed by award-winning theatre maker Gail Babb, this show uses everything from soundscapes, a rotating stage and choreography to make the minimalist set come alive and invite us into both the wide-open gardens of a National Trust property and the contrasting, cramped conditions of Mason's prison cell.
It did take me some time to digest this play in its entirety, another feature that made it feel like poetry brought to life. Certain lines are still rolling around in my head, particularly from the closing poem, making me feel like I’d get even more from a second reading.
Please Do Not Touch will be playing tonight at the Birmingham Hippodrome before heading off on its UK tour. It will be back in the area on 12 February at the Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton, and wrapping up on 13 March at the Leeds Playhouse, and I’d highly recommend seeing it for yourself.
