Nina, theatre review: A charismatic performance amid a cluttered narrative

To my discredit, I knew little about American singer Nina Simone when I went into this show. More worryingly, I knew about the same when I came out, which isn’t an ideal result for a piece subtitled ‘A story about me and Nina Simone’.

The ‘Me’ is actress/director Josette Bushell-Mingo, who first saw the fierce Simone on television when she was little and, as a young black girl, found it a revelation.

In an impassioned, ill-focused rant, Bushell-Mingo weaves together cursory fragments of Simone’s protest songs during the American Civil Rights era, her own childhood in London and thoughts about continuing racism and the ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign of today. ‘How did we come to a time when we have to say ‘Black Lives Matter’?’, she wonders incredulously.

Bushell-Mingo has great charisma as a performer and sings a selection of Simone’s songs with gusto, but this piece would greatly benefit from a stronger and clearer structure. Her rage blazes unabated and is, at times, slightly terrifying, as when she suggests bringing a gun into the theatre and calmly shooting every white audience member.

It’s a comment, of course, on the indiscriminate killing of black people down the decades, but it would have greater lasting impact if it were more skilfully woven into a fully developed narrative.

Until July 29, Young Vic; youngvic.org