Review: DRUM

There’s a series of black and white photos in the Tate Britain’s collection, showing when the BBC’s first black broadcaster, Mike Eghan, was photographed by fellow Ghanaian, James Barnor. The 1967 photoshoot, starting in the BBC radio studios and ending up in Piccadilly Circus, is the focus of Jacob Roberts-Mensah’s excellent play.

Bursts of gorgeous Highlife music come often; the upbeat, optimistic sound of a newly independent Ghana, free from British rule since 1957. But while Eghan (played by a self-possessed King Boateng) loves the trappings of London life in the swinging sixties – the fur coat, Rolls Royce and tea with biscuits – Barnor (played by the magnetic Joshua Roberts-Mensah) remains a fan of palm nut soup and kenkey dumplings. They spar over Ghanaian politics, dance until they are out of breath, reminisce about the old country. It’s a friendship with friction and a crash course in Ghanaian politics, dialect and culture.

‘Dada ba’, daddy’s boy/privileged child Eghan hasn’t experienced any of Britain’s racism first hand and stays apolitical, wanting a quiet life. The two-hander is a fantastic study of identity – Barnor quotes a Walter Scott poem about Scottish patriotism at one point – but also the push and pull between tradition and expansion.