Box of Tricks’ new play Danesha is a coming-of-age story that ties the titular character’s self-discovery with musicality, queer joy, black community, and finding ‘home’. A night out in Manchester sets off a series of changes, transforming the way Danesha sees her own identity. ‘Danesha the dancer’ begins to understand the discordance of her life, moving away from self-denial towards discovery, joy, and love.
Her self-proclaimed title ‘Danesha the dancer’ highlights the importance of dance and music to Danesha’s arc. The play’s dance scenes were handled to match this significance. They felt natural - like we were watching a group of friends on a night out, moving and laughing together – which is a testament to the performances by the cast and the movement direction by Aiden Crawford. One lighting change (by lighting designer Charly Dunford) marked a successful transition from a dance scene to the domestic setting: the lighting shifted from bright and colourful to the muted, naturalistic lighting of Danesha's front room. This accentuated the difference between Danesha's new and exciting life, and the tired, limiting life with her dad, a life defined by microwave meals and silence. Contrasts such as this perhaps could have been exaggerated more at other moments throughout the play, in order to underscore the importance of these dance and movement sequences.
While on the topic of Danesha's dad, one of the weaknesses of the show is worth noting. Some of the dramatic conflict and tension comes from this father-daughter relationship, but this does not always feel as well constructed as the rest of the play. To an audience member, the main source of conflict appears to be the dad's ignorance and silence: his refusal to talk about Danesha’s mother, and his failure to understand or see the difficulties Danesha faces as the only black girl in their small community. He is, initially, a closed-minded and underwhelming father figure - waiting on the sofa and watching TV, while his 17-year-old daughter heats up his microwave meals. And yet, the word ‘hero’ is associated with him twice: firstly, accompanied by an eye roll, and secondly, with hurt and betrayal lacing Talia Rae Smith (as Danesha)’s voice. But we don’t see a build-up to the intensity of this latter moment’s apparent emotional weight, which makes this specific conflict appear overdramatic and unrealistic. The conflict between these two characters could be handled with a bit more specificity and relevance to the parts of the Dad’s character that we have already witnessed; this specificity is regained and utilised perfectly in the pair’s final moments.
Danesha's relationship with Leonie is consistently well-drawn, both in moments of joy and in moments of difficulty. The dynamic seemed comfortable and true, and Smith and Kelise Gordon-Harrison (as Leonie) executed the pair’s comedic moments perfectly. These moments of light-heartedness were vital to the success of the play – in its focus on a 17-year-old’s inner monologue - because of the importance of fun and joy in Danesha's life. She searches for meaningful relationships in settings built on these things – on music, too, and dancing – and the whole cast’s ability to perform naturally together, like a group of friends, contributes to the significance of this coming-of-age story. The cast, in tandem with the script by Stefanie Reynolds, effortlessly balance the plethoric nature of the play’s themes; there is hope, love, and dancing, but there is also loneliness and pain caused by racial prejudice, homophobia, and ignorance.
Those latter themes do rest mostly on Smith’s shoulders, though, as any interactions Danesha has with her Preston-based (majority white) friendship group take place between Smith and invisible, imagined figures. This choice works thematically, as we – like Danesha - never connect with these characters, but it also means that there is a considerable amount of pressure on Smith, the lone performer. These moments could have benefited from being slowed down slightly, less rushed, in order to feel more deliberate and confident. The majority of the play, when other cast members joined Smith – like when we see Danesha’s imaginary backing dancers as part of her ‘music videos’- remained much stronger.
Danesha is highly charged, hopeful, and filled with friendship, community, and self-discovery. It will be running at The Lowry until Saturday 5th October, before continuing to tour until 26th October. For more information on Box of Tricks and Danesha’s touring venues, click here. For tickets for Danesha at The Lowry, click here.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | photography by Chris Payne
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