Efosa Ebowe's light-hearted, poetic and irreverent exploration of black identity provides an entertaining yet insubstantial assessment of the way in which black people define themselves against a white culture.
Whether the audience members' eyes are being dazzled by the bright colours of tribal costumes, or their ears are being teased with an assortment of rap tunes,you feel thatif this were a culinary offering it would dissolve pleasantly on the tongue, leaving little aftertaste.
Rhythm is the key to the show, and the audience is welcomed into the Lyric Studio by the sound of frenetic drumming. Shortly afterwards, a man comes on dressed as if - to the uneducated Western eye - he were about to engage in some kind of ancestral rite,but as he is joined by other feather-clad actors on stage in a humorous dance routine, another man dashes on and complains about the more relevant black problem of suffering from sickle-cell anaemia.
This juxtaposition of black stereotypes with genuine problems largely ignored by the white community is too heavy-handed. If this show is presenting itself as an exploration of black identity, it is also far too simplistic - for instance, the poem beginning "They didn't care about Stephen Lawrence ..." does not begin to touch on the continually developing consequences of the insidious racism which rightly led to the shake-up of Britain's entire criminal justice system.
The evening is redeemed by enjoyably comic performances - and Mark Monero (Steve, of EastEnders fame) is especially impressive in the rap numbers. If Ebowe's accessible poetic talent could be developed further, this could prove a far more powerful show. Given the simmering attitude towards multi-culturalism in Britain, there is not nearly enough theatre challenging views on black identity. On its own, how ever, Pepper Soup does not provide the necessary mental nutrition.
Pepper Soup
