'Alterations' review — this glorious, firecracker revival proves that Michael Abbensetts’s work deserves to be seen

Read our review of 1970s drama Alterations, starring Arinzé Kene and Cherrelle Skeete, now at the National Theatre to 5 April.

Michael Abbensetts might be remembered for his revolutionary 1978 TV show Empire Road: the first to ever be written, acted and directed by an all-Black British creative team. But his plays are rarely seen on stage today and are largely disregarded. Audiences of this long overdue revival of his 1978 seminal work Alterations will be unlikely to forget it now though – Abbensetts’s words zing and crackle on the Lyttelton stage with fire and might.

Much of that is down to the play’s director, Lynette Linton, who both respects Abbensetts’s original text and pulls it into 2025. The tailor, Walker Holt, has hopes of owning his own shop on Carnaby Street, but to do that, he has to throw everything into his work. Tonight, he’s been given the near-impossible task of mending a seemingly endless pile of trousers for a new client. The next 24 hours will be pivotal to turn his fantasies into something tangible. But what will be the cost of Walker striving to achieve his dreams?

Aspirations, wants and needs blur in Abbensetts’s script; everything but Walker’s desire to prosper takes a backseat. Despite his occasional pleas, it is clear that Walker sees his staff as accessories to him eventually being handed the keys to his shop. His wife, Darlene (played by a show-stealing Cherrelle Skeete), and his young daughter are barely a consideration. After Darlene loses her job, Walker still refuses to give her money; everything is hanging on his success.

Walker is part of the Windrush Generation and all that he, his wife and friends have sacrificed to be in Britain forms the backdrop to Abbensetts’s play. Walker longs to be an accepted part of his new community; "If it’s good enough for the Jews, the Asians and the whites it is good enough for us," he declares. Meanwhile Darlene hoped the move to England would strengthen her family and marriage. Linton takes this history and amplifies it into colour; we see visions of people from their past, back home, as vivid memories. The future generation is there too, just a stretch away, almost in reach.

Frankie Bradshaw’s set relies on a simple revolve: the shop twists on its axis to reveal hidden conversations. Bright clothes hang from the ceiling, sewing machines decorate the tables, and fabric is thrown messily across the floors. Linton paints Walker’s ambitions in a golden hue. Even a mention of his shop sends a trail of shining light down onto the stage. But the real highlight of this production comes in a dream sequence that sees Walker’s Carnaby Street shop burst into existence. There, people stand in matching uniforms and the room dances in ease and joy.

Arinzé Kene makes Walker as blindly driven as he could possibly be. Frustration explodes from him when his staff do not follow his orders; at one point, he collapses onto the floor and squeals like a petulant child. When the company comes together, the stage is alive with their differences of opinion about who and what they should be. This is a glorious revival that proves Abbensetts’s work deserves and needs to continue to be seen.

Alterations is at the National Theatre to 5 April. Book Alterations tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Alterations (Photos by Marc Brenner)