Review: Assata Taught Me, Riverside Studios

Studio 3 at Riverside Studios takes us to Cuba in 2016, towards the end of Castro’s time. Bright colours, vibrant music, and simple furnishings greet us as we enter the home of Assata. Stage management (Mel Fritz-Liu) has realised Kalungi Ssebandeke’s vision, through the set and costume design of Bolu Dairo, lighting design of Chuma Emembolu, together with the sound designs of José Guillermo Puello. Such is their collaboration, that we experience the transitions from day to night, the flickering of thunderstorms, the movement across different rooms, and the energy of Cuban rhythms and decor, born of African/Latin American history. 

Assata Taught Me, is a brave and powerful production, based on the life of the late Assata Olugbala Shakur (Assata – she who struggles, Olugbala – love for the people, Shakur-thankful). Born JoAnn Deborah Byron, she chose her names for both meaning and connection to Africa. Susan Lawson-Reynolds takes on the formidable role of Assata, a complex, private, yet fearful woman. Her mentoring relationship with Fanuco Maceo (Ebenezer Gyau) provides a fascinating tableau for the complex emotions of individuals coming together with very different lived experiences and aspirations.

Lawson-Reynolds is both powerful and persuasive, yet beyond her assurance, is the vulnerability of being, in 2013, the first woman on the FBI’s most wanted-terrorists list, with a price of $2m upon her head. As Assata, she proudly owns her history, with tendrils of pain and the strain of sacrifice, loss and defiance. Lawson-Reynolds occasionally trips over her words, perhaps due to the pace of delivery or the urgency of the messages to deliver. Gyau, is both charismatic and boyish in his pleading for learning, for guidance, and for a smoother path to achieve his dreams in Miami, just 235 miles from Havana, but unattainable when earnings are paltry and opportunities, for Cuban nationals, meagre. Despite the work of voice and dialect coach Aundrea Fudge, Gyau struggles to balance multiple nuances of accents from English to American, Cuban Spanish and Nigerian. Whilst his character may well experience all of these influences, it was occasionally jarring when accent changes occur with such frequency.   

Like others in the audience, I cried as Assata mourned personal loss, her exile preventing her from being at the funeral of a loved one, yet the pain of loss was depicted with such nuance Gabrielle Nimo (movement director) is to be lauded both for the ache of loss and the visceral joy of African dance. The choreographed movement, physicality, and interactions of Assata and her young apprentice, Fanuco, are delivered with connection, purpose and intensity; terrifying, uplifting and inspirational.

There are compelling moments of trauma, references to lynching hold the audience silent. Equally there are times of wit and wisdom ‘check your misogyny at the door’, and comprehension play around pronunciation that are both informative and fun. Even Aristotle’s pillars of persuasion (ethos, pathos, logos) are given voice in both Spanish and English. This contributes to many layers of philosophical discourse, political stance, and perceptions of convictions of both character and criminality.

It is an intense and moving production, with much to learn and reflect upon. I imagine the late Assata would enjoy these conversations, their intensity and purpose. Ultimately, little has changed between Cuba and America socio-economically, the exiled political activist finds safety on this small island, whilst the young Cuban, Fanuco, strives against its imposing boundaries with aspirations for a richer future. Assata Taught Me is illuminating in political history and philosophical debate across perceptions of freedom, wealth and safety.

Based upon the book by Kalungi Ssebandeke
Written and directed by Kalungi Ssebandeke
Set and Costume Design by Bolu Dairo
Lighting Design by Chuma Emembolu
Sound Design by José Guillermo Puello
Movement Director: Gabrielle Nimo

Assata Taught Me plays at Riverside Studios until Sunday 24 May.