“An entertaining, emotional and accessible production of a modern British classic; Pig Heart Boy will tug at the toughest of heart-valves.”
Malorie Blackman is, let’s face it, a national treasure. Her seminal works including the novel Noughts and Crosses inspired the millennial generation to take a deeper look into what made multicultural Britain the way it was, but on her own terms. The smash hit Pig Heart Boy is perhaps her most well known work and it finds itself here in the hands of its accomplished director Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu.
Kicking off a national tour at the perfectly pint-sized Unicorn Theatre, we meet our protagonist Cameron (Played by Immanuel Yeboah) as he comes to terms with an urgent need for a heart transplant. As time runs out for his survival, he must decide whether or not to receive the heart of a pig, and considers how his life may change, for better or worse, if he accepts.
The staging is a startling mix of techno heart pulses with 90s musical beats. It hurls around the backdrop like a matrix of arteries and veins, flowing in and out of colour palettes that complement the costumes of a given scene. I particularly appreciated the use of water as a reference for life: the passion with which Cameron feels most himself is when he is swimming or daydreaming of diving; or the use of a hydrotherapy session interposed with references to the nascient arrival of a sibling. The audience follows Cameron through his 4th wall breaking contemplations and his need to simply understand his place in the world.
All actors bar Yeboah played multiple characters, although the stand out performance came from Christina Ngoyi, whose portrayal of Cameron’s best friend Marylin was really the centre of the piece. Her bubbliness and empathy were constant reminders of relatable teenage loyalty and anguish. I also enjoyed the range Akil Young put into his portrayals of Cameron’s friend/dive rival Rashid, and his father Mike- the switch between accents, ages and physicality appeared effortless and convincing.
I noticed the audience was perhaps the most diverse I had ever seen. This sounds like it happens all the time in a city as cosmopolitan as London, however the breadth of ages, genders and ethnicities truly proved the accessibility of such a thematically relevant play. It deals with medical ethics, friendships, animal rights, teenage nihilism, and quite frankly the meaning of life. These are all themes that connected to the audience tonight, largely thanks to Fynn-Aiduenu’s direction to keep the characters straightforward and relatable. Children laughed at corny puns and visual gags, adults laughed at marital humour and a shout out to excellent Grasmere gingerbread.
It did feel however that the production was a little unpolished, with a late start, fumbled line cues, a couple of broken props and cumbersome set pieces that looked tough for the actors to move around. I have no doubt that these will all be fixed in no time for the rest of the tour and I don’t think young audiences will care. They’ll be too busy enjoying the incredibly fun portrayal of Trudy the pig. Adults will be wondering where they can get their hands on the life changing properties of Cameron’s nan’s ackee and saltfish with dumplings.
As Ms Blackman states herself about this production, “The Unicorn has the most lively and enthusiastic audience and a world class reputation for tackling big weighty issues in an accessible way”. This performance is no exception.