Gone Too Far is Bola Agbaje's debut. For a first production it is certainly brave: an uninhibited, brutally honest and yet comic insight into the dark realities of life on a London council estate.
      With ever-increasing amounts of irony and satire, the play tells the story of two brothers, trying individually and together to make sense of their cultural identities. Raised on different continents, Yemi in Europe and Ikudayisi in Africa, the brothers have come together to live in the backstreets of London. On a trip to buy milk for their mother the boys are confronted with the many prejudices, injustices and antipathies that plague contemporary British society. Whether it is in the eyes of a frightened old lady or the hateful face of a policeman, these Nigerian kids - in spite of good-intentions and moral integrity - are met with hostility and discrimination.
      The result is a sometimes disturbingly real portrayal of the daily battle with racism which persists in today's supposedly liberal and multi-cultural city. Tobi Bakare, as the younger brother Yemi, well conveys the anger, shame and despair he feels in the face of this social evil; we empathise with his persistent attempts to make sense of it and reason with those who undermine him. Tunji Lucas' more light-hearted but equally admirable performance as the older brother, Ikudayisi - the peace-keeper, ever the optimist and finally the victim of his own naivety - is full of humour and grace. And of course there's nutty Armani - a young girl of mixed race, trying to understand whether she is black or white, and also whether it matters; torn between arrogance and insecurity, and a mixture of feminism and a kind of chauvinism. Armani is confidently played by Zawe Ashton, doubtless herself knowing all too well the truths that trouble her character. And if she is maybe a little too inspired by Catherine Tate, we can forgive her for the number of laughs she gets from the audience.
      Director Bijan Sheibani handles this difficult material with aplomb. He gives subtle emphasis to the issue of culture: scene changes are often brought about by an interlude in which the cast perform dance originally from Africa, America and the West Indies. The lights are dimmed and the music is loud, and the effect is to illustrate what unites us. On one occasion the boys wonderfully mimic Michael Jackson's ‘moonwalking', reminding us of a man torn apart by an obsession with skin colour.
      The play makes you laugh and cry in its account of life not just on a London council estate, but the world over, wherever a people are trying to understand themselves, individually and in relation to others.
Florence Mackenzie