RevIew: Brown Suite, Richmond Theatre ★★½

Oozing with the musical souls of James Brown, Sam Cooke and Etta James, Brown Suite sashays into Richmond Theatre with sultriness and some heart. A 90-minute piece, including interval, it takes place over one boozy club night in 1970s New York but, for the audience, the party never quite gets started.

The Brown Suite is the first full-length work by Blacbrik, which was formed in 2023 by Nahum McLean and Darius Drooh, who met while training at the Ailey School in New York. As well as performing, the pair are responsible for the story, concept and choreography.

McClean and Drooh have assembled a very experienced and well-trained set of dancers who are more than adept at achieving what is asked of them (a set of coupés jetés en tournant was a highlight). A mix of ballet, modern dance and social dances, the choreography sometimes soars but at other times is a little repetitive: some of the club scenes felt more simple than necessary.

The storyline was often unclear, leaving this feeling more like a set of linked but ultimately disconnected dance pieces. That it was a night out was clearly established. Flirtations and dalliances were sometimes obvious but not always and the emotions never seemed to escalate or deflate enough to drive the story forward.

There is a simple set in various muted hues (browns, oranges) that might be associated with the seventies. I grew up then, and am sure I had corduroy trousers in all the colours shown at various points. Twelve long, illuminated lights at the back of stage changed colour and rhythms throughout the piece to add interest, but were at times uncomfortably bright.

The dancers in front were sometimes cast in more shadow than was perhaps needed to hint at a nightclub setting. At other times, they were lit in a set of stripes that criss-crossed as they moved towards and away from each other. This was intriguing to watch and was one point when the show really felt to be doing something new.

The costumes (Maybelle Laye) embodied the era well. Each character looked individual but they also worked as a coherent seventies whole and were able to move freely. They fit well with the set and the overall design felt cohesive.

Also cohesive was the delightfully detailed programme, designed to look like an LP, and crammed with a fascinating amount of detail about Blacbrik, the production process and their chosen music.

Reading the programme, it is clear what Nahum McLean and Darius Drooh were aiming for with this show. While it has not quite achieved all it set out to do in this iteration, the ambition is clear and I am excited to see how this show develops and what they do together next.

Images credit: Viktor Erik Emanuel

[Thank you to Richmond Theatre for gifted tickets for an honest review.]

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