The Unfinished is finished - and worth the wait

Daniel Nelson

Almost four years since Dipo Baruwa-Etti was commissioned to write An Unfinished Man, and 13 drafts and two Covid years since it was initially due to open, it’s here. And it’s worth the wait.

It’s an intense 60 minutes, as Kayode wrestles with his depression in the wake of seven years without a job in Britain; with his mother Layo who thinks he is crippled by a curse cast in the month he lived in Nigeria; with charismatic pastor Matanmi who believes “it can be rendered null and void” by prayer; by his wife Kikiope (“This curse ain’t a curse, but this country”) and by Itan.

Ah, Itan, who is love, history, part of Kayode’s mind – a part  who wants to dominate the other half. The two sometimes speak their own language, Shukabhembemese, which Baruwa-Etti seems to have had fun creating.

The set is simple, but striking, because the focus is a paddling pool, which the playwright describes as an ocean but which some reviewers call a baptism bath. More significantly, Kayode is described as standing in the water throughout, with everyone else on the shore – never crossing over. “Except Itan, who does as she pleases.”

“They are all Black,” Baruwa-Etti has added helpfully at the end of the list of characters.

As you will have gathered, there’s much to think about. And much to listen to and watch, thanks to a commanding cast.

I found it imaginative, fascinating and moving. It’s not prescriptive, suggesting one explanation of Kayode’s dilemma or its cure is correct, but being of a prosaic mind, I would have liked more emphasis on Kikiope’s comment that the real curse is

“Us here.

Cost of living

unemployment rates

mental illness rates,

higher than they’ve been

in decades”

and on the growing awareness that racism and economic disadvantage can make being Black in Britain a problem.

* An Unfinished Man is at The Yard Theatre, from £13, Unit 2A, Queens Yard, White Post Lane, E9, until 19 March. Info: 3320 2896/  www.theyardtheatre.co.uk