Review: DRUM by Jacob Roberts-Mensah

Set in London and inspired by real events, DRUM by Jacob Roberts-Mensah is a play about identity, assimilation, success and centres itself around two Ghanaian characters, their nostalgia for home, and what it means to live in Britain in the 1960s.

The play is a two-hander, set at BBC Broadcasting House, between Ghanaian creatives James Barnor (a photographer) and radio presenter Mike Eghan. James is interviewing Mike for Drum magazine and there is some obvious initial tension, although the two laugh and joke with each other as well.

The play is about identity and their perception of it. James feels that Mike is losing what is means to be Ghanaian. He criticises his English-sounding accent when he speaks on the radio: ‘Don't use your funny accent … just two years and you're trying to talk like you are the Queen's husband’.