Stop and Search
Arcola Theatre, London

THE interconnected conversations between a trio of couples who’ve come together at moments of stress and danger — moments at which humanity and compassion are directly called into question — is the focus of Gabriel Gbadamosi’s Stop and Search.

Tel is driving back to Britain with Akim, who’s trying to get into the country and might just be able to keep Tel awake on the drive. Lee and Tone are staking out an address, waiting for someone to turn up, with the former ready for violence and the latter unconvinced, while Bev gets into a cab and directs the driver to a bridge.

Each of their conversations covers a lot of ground, among them immigration, crime, relationships, trans identities and racism. And each is explored in depth and their echoes in the other conversations complicate the ideas and politics even more, so that Akim’s experience trying to get into Britain comes to echo that of Bev as a black Londoner.

Their interchanges, fraught and loaded, are complex and tense negotiations in which power and agency are constantly in question.

Gbadamosi’s script does a remarkable job at keeping tight control over those tensions and the blurring of the lines between the truth, stories and assumptions works tellingly in complicating and challenging perceptions.

While some of the situations in the play perhaps lack an inherent theatricality, Mehmet Ergen directs with focus, keeping an assured control of pace and drawing engaging performances from a strong ensemble cast.

Munashe Chirisa stands out, playing Akim with a charm and gravity, while Jessye Romeo offers a powerful performance as Bev, whose multiple griefs are handled with a remarkable grace and Tyler Luke Cunningham is an engaging Lee.

Runs until February 9, box office arcolatheatre.com.