In his masterful analysis of the American stage and screen, ‘The Devil Finds Work,’ James Baldwin reflects on the disconnect between the celluloid aspirations of white Americans and the reality faced by the average African-American. Against the American dream of upward mobility, Baldwin states, “Even with some money, black people could move only into black neighbourhoods: which is not to be interpreted as meaning that we wished to move into white neighbourhoods. We wished, merely, to be free to move.” A similar desire to escape from a constrainted set of circumstances by any means possible drives the characters in Bola Agbaje’s compelling morality play, ‘Off The Endz.” Sharon (Lorraine Burroughs) and Kojo (Daniel Francis) are an upwardly mobile black couple. Their council flat is furnished with all the latest toys. Sharon is a nurse and Kojo a young executive with the sharp suit and fast car. Expecting their first child, the couple are trying to finalise a mortgage to move to a new house.
      Their situation is complicated by the arrival of David (Ashley Walters), Sharon’s old flame and Kojo’s blood brother. David has just come out of prison and has plans to better his own situation. He pours scorn on the couple’s work ethic stating “You both wanna live in the fast lane just as much as I do” and claiming, “I am not the type of man that gonna be working for four-fifty an hour.” Chauvanistic, slobbish and confrontational, David is the worst possible houseguest. A swaggering mixture of aggression, defensiveness and cocksure certainty, he spends his days provoking those who would help him. His plans to set up as a cocaine dealer jar with Sharon and Kojo’s attempts to put him on the straight and narrow. But Kojo and Sharon’s world is far from perfect. Having fallen for the illusions of easy credit, the couple are overwhelmed with debt, a secret Kojo has to keep from Sharon, her unrealistic expectations and corresponding store card addiction. However, when Kojo is made redundant and risks losing his mortgage deposit, the quick riches and dangerous rewards of David’s criminal endeavours become all too tempting.
      Agbaje is a skilled writer with an expert ear for the naunces of street slang. She deftly manipulates our sympathies, subtly undermining the situation of each character to show that Kojo and Sharon’s middle-class aspirations and David’s gangster posture are different sides of the same shabby materialism. Events take a darker turn when David comes into conflict with the youths who really run the estate. These terrifying, almost entirely silent ‘hoodies’ haunt the stage as menacing symbols of an uncontrollable and ammoral next-generation, the inevitable outcome of a divisive society dominated by delusions of winning wealth without responsibility.
      ‘Off The Endz’ is marked by tremendous performances by the three leads. Daniel Francis is particularly good as the beleagured Kojo. He perfectly captures the struggles of a fundamentally good man trying to keep himself together and do the right thing whilst also wanting to appease two equally demanding and feisty individuals. However, it is Ashely Walters as the infuriating David who really steals the show. A true star, he dominates the stage with his effortless charisma, playing his part with a bold mixture of pathos and humour. His brief moment of nudity reduced some parts of the audience to near hysteria and there is no doubt that his prescence has brought a fresh new crowd to the Royal Court. The final scene, with David alone on the stage insisting, “These are my endz” stands as a resonate image of the frustrations and failed hopes of a whole generation.
James Miller