Review: THE STORY at Olivier, National Theatre

In her 2004 play THE STORY which capitalises on stereotypes and racial tropes, Tracey Scott Wilson attempts valiantly to imbue the meandering set-up with tricks and gimmicks in the dialogue delivery, in an attempt to lift the banal and excessive exposition. Fortunately, Clint Dyer’s direction paired with the set design of Anna Fleischle, in the main salvages the piece from some clunky potential pitfalls. Added to the collective effort of the cast members, much of the resultant play (though not all) is both compelling and watchable.

What initially promises to be a twisty-turny narrative arc, based on differing viewpoints and interpretations, fragments into distinct sections about an Ivy League trust fund baby Jeff (Wilf Scolding) who is heir apparent to a newspaper empire and is involved (on the down-lo) with a young black woman Yvonne (Letitia Wright) who dazzled the interview panel and has landed her first junior role at the paper - specifically within the racially-sensitive “Vanguard” section which is dominated by Pat (Lorraine Toussaint). She by extension represents every black woman who has had to fight for her place, her dignity and her right to exist in a largely white-controlled, male-dominated world.

Thereafter, Latisha (Aliyah Odoffin) may or may not be in a girl street gang known as “AOB” who — while dressed as boys to avoid detection — commit criminal acts including the shooting of the unfortunate, aforementioned husband who was car-jacked in this review’s opening paragraph.

Scenes loop back and forth so often in an attempt to be vibrant and engaging, that they forget to be coherent, which in its current format is the production’s major weakness. However, THE STORY has undoubted merit when it ceases in its attempts to be shocking and instead focuses on the real impact of the media’s forensic depiction of stereotypes. A pity then, that a play largely set within the tainted and jaded world of newspaper journalism, is overwhelmed by imagery of newsrooms and live-from-the-scene, mic-holding, beige-mac-wearing, cliché-riddled hyperbole-touting, US TV reporters (massive yuck!)

The initial set-up, with its dialogue-cued lighting tricks, promises a great deal. But perhaps due precisely to that exciting and inventive opening, the end result feels a tad flat and even under-rehearsed in places. All the same there’s a lot here to like and even linger over.

THE STORY plays 2 hrs 50 mins including interval and continues at the Olivier, National Theatre, until 24th October.

The Story Tickets