Little Brother by Timberlake Wertenbaker based on the book by Arnets Arzallus Antia & Ibrahima Balde. Jermyn Street Theatre, London until 21 June 2025, 5☆☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

Photo Credit – Steve Gregson. 

Little Brother by Timberlake Wertenbaker based on the book by Arnets Arzallus Antia & Ibrahima Balde. Jermyn Street Theatrem 16b Jermyn Street, London SW1 until 21 June 2025, 5☆☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

“Moving, powerful.”

Ibrahima Balde left his home town in Guinea in West Africa to look for his younger brother who had gone missing after their father died. He was in his early teens and his journey was long and perilous taking him across deserts to Libya, then Algeria and finally as a boat person to Spain, a victim of people smugglers and many he met a long the way. There he met the Spanish poet Antia and the result was their memoir of his trip which became a best seller and he eventually acquired the right to stay. It is a frightful journey and the boy's resillience was tested time and again, Jermyn Street is a tiny theatre and the simple set by Natalie Johnson, which has been skillfully lit, provides a perfect environment in which to tell it. Blair Gyabaah as Balde has charm and tells his story directly to the audience with the other members of the cast playing the people he meets along the way. It is ensemble work of the highest standard and director Stella Powell-Jones has kept it flowing for the entire ninety minutes which ends with the announcment, which the first night audience knew, that Balde had been invited to attend but his visitor visa was rejected by the Home Office – one more decision by civil servants with no imagination and a dedication to rules which rapidly had to be overturned by the Home Secretary. He is a Spanish resident, his life is there, he has no wish to come here and never had. The horrors of people trafficking, the way girls discover that they face rape or being sold to old men as young wives, the  endless demands for money, the appalling jobs the travellers have to do are all there and it is chilling redeemed by the power of Balde's personality, his refusal to give up – although he never did find his younger brother. He did, howver, once the book came out meet the late Pope Francis. Gyabaah suggests he is a man well worth meeting. The simplictity of the staging is one of its strengths as this is the kind of saga that a venue with a large stage and substantial rrsources could have drown in special effects. Here it is the words that matter – and the players. Wertenbbaker has crafted an carefully constructed tale from the material in the book and one which is incredibly powerful and moving. Jermyn Street should have a deserved success on its hands.

Cast

Blair Gyabaah. Youness Bouzinab, Whitney Kehunde, Ivan Oyik, Mo Sessay,

Creatives

Director – Stella Powell-Jones

Set Designer – Natalie Johnson

Costume Designer – Maariyah Sharjil

Lighting Designer – Jahmiko Marshall

Composer – Falle Niolke

Sound Designer – Max Pappenheim

Movement Designer – Lati Saka

Dialect Coach – Aundrea Fudge

Fight Director – Ronin Traynor