Cape, by Inua Ellams

‘Let nothing get in your way,’ is the mantra for Bruce, Tanya, Uhura, Ama and Smithy as they try to come to terms with a brutal mugging; if you're looking for a relevant play for young people, then here it is.

Bruce wants revenge, but the victim – his mum Ama – has her own plan: learn self-defence. Uhuru is her politically driven teacher and Smithy is the cop, struggling to mount his own defence against constant stop-and-search accusations. Ultimately, however, it is Tanya who plans to don the vigilante cape with disastrous results.

Inua Ellams’ play explores what happens when not one but all five of the diverse characters ‘cross the line’. Cape dabbles in meta-drama as well as agit-prop repetition and lively audience address. Yet within these more traditional devices, Ellams’ characters constantly ring true.