Passing Strange @ Young Vic Theatre, London
Ironically for a 20th-century set rock musical, a bit like Tommy or Hair, this feels a bit creaky and dated, and very, very cliched. But that’s down to the content, the cast sing their hearts out — there’s some unexpected fierce tap-dancing and some delightful Berlin Punks.
Mirroring a journey such as Pilgrim’s Progress or Odysseus, and very James Baldwin, Stew’s rock musical follows a character Youth (Keenan Munn-Francis), his fraught teenage relationship with his lone parent Mother (Rachel Adedeji) and the Church/faith. It’s a search for who he is and what he truly believes in, as well as how he spends time ‘passing’ in different communities.
In Los Angeles, the way to be black and part of the community is to go to church on Sundays in the right church clothes. His older self, Narrator (Brandon Lee Sears) is maybe the older ‘Youth’ regretting some of his behaviour and mistakes, and still terribly isolated and lonely. He has some great numbers, although the sound wasn’t great at the start and it was hard to hear his great singing.
If you’re a Christian, the church section will break your heart. I wasn’t expecting a rock musical to interrogate church hurt, church culture — it’s use, abuse and misuse, othering, power between adults and young people, and abuse and misuse of trust and authority. It’s also about how church culture expectations, along with classicism, can come in play to block and crush new faith. Frankly some very un-Jesus like barriers are created here. Youth doesn’t want to go, his Mother insists (even though she doesn’t believe either and feels just as judged) — and he must wear the jacket, shirt and tire, and not the jeans.
Though focused on experience, Youth begins to have a real faith experience, before being completely alienated by Mother’s attitude. This is even whilst enduring the snark from the congregation along very judgy class lines. If you follow Jesus, there’s so much to think about here in how people are welcomed and included, about not putting our own assumptions and ‘grey areas’ onto others as THE LAW and promoting a diverse congregation rather than clones. Sadly, though there’s some great faux Gospel music, which the audience I was in stubbornly refused to clap along to. You’ve got to fit into their way, not the way and Youth can’t do this.
Youth is forced to join the Youth Choir, where he meets a hot Christian girl who has high standards and expectations of her future life, and the sadly named ‘bad church kids’, who no-one seems to take much notice or care about. We also meet bad choir leader and pastor’s son who is presented as a cool arty rebel, but is actually more worrying for his use of his own power and influence over young people. In what feels like grooming (though this is never explored), he creates his own chosen sub-group, gets them smoking weed and listening to his Baldwin-esque soundbites. He seems to love the status and the show, but sadly not Jesus — though he’d never let on. Again, if you’re a Christian, this should scare you to the core and get you looking at the characters of the people in position and power, and what they’re doing when no-one is looking.
Youth has had enough and flees church, Mother, choir, America, his prototype basement band to experience Europe…and more drugs, lots of drugs. And hedonism. It’s set in the late ‘70’s-early ‘80’s. In Berlin, Communism or the city’s divisions isn’t addressed at all apart from a vague hint of threatening police types (though this is more of a Black Lives Matters link), nor is there any mention of the terrible discovery and suffering of HIV/AIDS to come in the sexy Europe montage. It’s really worrying to watch Youth having a drug-fueled unprotected sex comedy knowing what’s next. But apart from callously ditching his girlfriend as love has just grown and wider sexy druggy hedonistic family to go to Berlin, and increasingly feeling that everything is meaningless apart from art, Youth doesn’t seem to be impacted by any experiences. (The audience on the other hand were much happier to wave their hands in the air to get over here!)
Moving on from appallingly cliched Amsterdam, Youth meets Punk Berlin. The Punks are so sweet and much more fully rounded characters than their Amsterdam arty counterparts. Desi (Renée Lamb) is a wonderful character, leader of the punk art collective; intelligent, challenging, thoughtful. She brings deep romance as she and Youth spend lots of time talking, eventually holding hands. He starts to learn to connect really through being himself rather than sex or drugs.
Youth thinks he has to prove himself and impress by playing into cliched ideas of black oppression and the ghetto — which he knows nothing about. This turns into a Cabaret number with some fierce tap dancing! Though it’s also really sad as to ‘pass’ in this group and justify his art, Youth feels he needs to play into expectations of racism and lived black experience and misery. Desi sees this, loves him anyway and encourages him to unmask, to be himself. Which Youth can’t cope with.
The sweet Punks are so free that they can go home, spend Christmas with their families who don’t get their lifestyles and enjoy celebrating. Youth isn’t that free and rejects Christmas with his Mother to spend a fairly miserable Christmas song-writing and alone. Desi challenges both his head and his heart, but Youth can’t quite get there.
It’s only when his Mother suddenly dies that Youth returns home and even then he’s decided that life is a mistake, meaningless, purposeless apart from art and music. It’s very nihilistic and almost into simulation theory, as he discovers who he isn’t rather than who he is. Desi and the Berlin Punks would disagree, which is how they can freely and enjoyably relate with those who aren’t like them, can both give and receive love. Though Mother gets a great heavenly gorgeous gown and has some wonderful lyrical moments, my take from this is to be more Punk — as they had the most heart and the most fun!
The cast are terrific as is the on-stage band of Pete Billington, Ikechukwu Onwuagbu and JT Taylor who join in the drama sometimes too! There are obligatory video backdrops, but the theatre is cleverly used as characters wander in and out of the audience seating, interacting on occasion. Loved the Punks, and Youth’s plane flight to his Europe of dreams. Although the content is explicit, the intimacy is carefully and creatively danced, which is a really thoughtful choice. You can end up coming away looking much like the poster for the London show, and with a deep sadness for Mother and her tough life, which she seemed to have spent most of it ‘passing’.
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