Lava

by Benedict Lombe

‘This is nice, innit? Yeah. Good little set-up to tell you the story of my name. The story of my true name.’

When a woman receives an unexpected letter from the British Passport Office, she is forced to confront an old mystery: why does her South African passport not carry her first name? Armed with the wisdom of favourite ‘90s TV shows, she sets out on a journey that will take her back to the turmoil of Mobutu’s Congo, growing up in past-Apartheid South Africa, moving to Ireland, and finding love in a hostile England.

As her journey becomes inextricably linked with the tides of global history, how far will she go to unravel the truth?

Genres: Plays

95 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 15, 2021

Reviews

[Carmijn Gerritsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This play was recommended to me by a colleague due to my interest in the mediation of socio-political discussions across Black British texts. This experimental piece of metadrama specifically follows the monologue of a single Black British woman who is navigating her lived history and experiences with belonging and displacement in light of the socio-political landscape at hand. By employing various self-reflexive and polyphonic strategies, whereby the character serves as the narrator, she interpellates the audience into a position of reflection. The play provides a mirror into present, tracing matters of institutionalised racism and the BLM movement, and ultimately closes with a reference to black joy.

[Maria do Socorro Baptista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma peça autobiográfica na qual é possível perceber algumas das mais sérias marcas da escravização de africanos: perdas de identidade e racismo estrutural até mesmo entre pessoas que possuem a mesma cor de pele, mas diferentes origens. Doloroso, muito realista, provocando uma muito necessária discussão.

[Tobias Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unbelievable new voice, funny and powerful. Wish I'd seen it in the theatre.