Tambo & Bones | Home Manchester

Tambo & Bones, a satire by poet Dave Harris exploring race in the States, stirred significant controversy. Critics accuse it of excluding white audiences. Yet, those upset by this should brace themselves, because the play’s bold script is a sharp, provocative exploration of America's relationship with race.

Harris, with sharp wit and keen self-awareness, highlights the everyday challenges and prejudices faced by Black individuals. Tambo & Bones are a duo stuck in a minstrel show, aimlessly arguing amidst a falsely tranquil rural backdrop. Their primary obstacle? They're penniless. Whilst this section could be trimmed down, it is an essential part to educate the audience about past relationships between The States and Race.

The first segment, reminiscent of Beckett and representing the "past," showcases Tambo & Bones in ragged coats and tails, engaging in slapstick to win over the crowd for mere coins. When this fails, they comically turn on their writer, a puppet in the audience and escape their minstrel story. This constant direct interaction with the audience builds rapport and comedy, but also means there is nowhere to hide when the pair resort to harming themselves for entertainment and money.

Transitioning to modern times the play heightens its intensity. Tambo and Bones have reinvented themselves as top-selling rap artists, escaping the minstrel show. Yet, this success comes at a price, they're performing sold-out concerts rooted in themes of Black suffering. The rap is a high standard and blasts audiences away. The pair's disagreement about whether to challenge the audience or focus on profit effectively forces to challenge their own relationship with race and capitalism.

The use of a screening of Donald Trump spewing thinly veiled “racism shit” as ‘patriotism’ is needed more than ever given he won the popular vote this election. This section should be compulsory viewing for all MAGA voters.

In the second act, the narrative catapults into the future. In this imagined America, a concluded civil war lead to the eradication of white populations. Assisted by two white robots, portrayed with absolute incredible physicality, Tambo & Bones reflect on the evolution of the new world order. However, when echoes of history begin to emerge, everything must reach a conclusion.

Without giving too much away, a final act of violence ensures the closing scene becomes impactful. It thought provokingly asks the age old question: ‘What does it mean to be human?’

Overall, the play is very challenging and provocative. Whilst the opening act could be slimmed, audiences will definitely leave thinking what they would do back when atrocities were being committed, and what could be they be doing now…

Tambo & Bones runs at Home Manchester until 05th April.

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★★★☆☆ (3*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Jane Hobson