"Nine Night" by Natasha Gordon.

Nottingham Playhouse

It always intrigues me when the title of the play gives nothing away as to the content of the play, so it was with great interest that I viewed this piece of theatre. I found out that this is the period of time that Caribbeans hold the wake when a person passes.

Written by Natasha Gordon, her debut play, this is a collaboration between Nottingham Playhouse and Leeds Playhouse. It was first commissioned and produced at The National Theatre and then went on to the West End.

Gloria is gravely sick. When her time comes, the celebration begins; the traditional Jamaican Nine Night Wake. But for Gloria’s children and grandchildren, marking her death with a party that lasts over a week is a test. Nine nights of music, food, sharing stories – and an endless parade of mourners. A story of family, food, music and mourning.

The passing of a loved one is incredibly sad and emotional but it also brings to the surface elements of comedy, as well as anger, and these emotions are in full force in this sharp and witty play.

This cast are an example of ensemble excellence as they act exactly in the way you'd expect a real-life family to act. Several had monologues while others interacted in the annoying ways that brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles etc do at get togethers such as this.

And it is times such as this that it's so warming to see the family members coming together to celebrate the love of one person, who although was unseen in the play would have been much loved as recognised by the wonderful acting from this cast.

It was also like an education to me; I picked up quite a bit of the old school patois and it was nice to see the generational differences through the family. The importance of the food and the drink in celebrations is also brought to the fore here, but most of all, and at the core of the play is family.

It's quite a rare occurrence to see a play written by a black person, performed by a mainly black cast, directed by a black person on the main stage of any theatre; there should be more, and not just in Black History month, any month.

Shereener Browne (Lorraine) is the daughter of Gloria, who has passed. You see the stress Lorraine has with the whole organisation of the traditional nine night. She is really missing her Mum but tries to keep it all in, but then her brother throws further stress her way!

Andrea Davy (Trudy) enters like a whirlwind and has the same effect. Trudy is late for the start of the nine-day celebrations but really makes up for it with her foodie gifts for the wake, as well as a few bottles of rum and a traditional dress for Anita, as well as a smaller identical one for Anita's baby. A really passionate performance, and we discover why there is so much pent-up emotion, but I'll leave you to discover that if you go and see the play.

Josephine Melville (Maggie) is just an incredible actor; if I had to pick a favourite character, Maggie would be the one. She is old school to the core with dollops of fun on top. Her final scenes, after she did a spine-tingling version of the gospel song " Precious Lord Take My Hand", seeing her communicating with Gloria were so intense, you could have heard a pin drop on the carpeted Playhouse auditorium.

Jo Mousley (Sophie) is the white wife of Robert, and I loved the line, when quizzed about putting weight on, she commented that she was building up her "Black Woman Ass". There are lots of comic lines for Jo, but her character has to put up with quite a bit from her husband.

Daniel Poyser (Robert) always seems to have something on his mind as Robert. He can't relax, even with a few glasses of spirits inside him. One of the reasons for his unrest is revealed, which causes anger from his sister, as he wants to look forward, whereas Lorraine wants to linger a little longer in the past.

Wayne Rollins (Vince) plays Maggie's husband and these two are one of those wonderful pairings that work so well together. It was so comfortable watching Wayne and Josephine together; there is a warmth there, a tenderness, true chemistry which is forged by the length of time Vince and Maggie have been married. There is a section with Vince that brought the house down as he was dancing to bhangra and really going for it, proving that there is life in the old Vince still. Brilliant fun character.

Jessica Whitehurst (Anita) is Lorraine's daughter, a very modern character who dressed like "Krusty the Clown", as described by Lorraine on one of the nights, and breast feeds her daughter. I loved the line where Maggie states that after nine months the baby will be craving for a bit of chicken, indicating the generational differences once again.

Every one of these actors are masters at character acting. But hey, that's the stamp of a good actor at the end of the day.

Along with the main characters and actors, the play included a community ensemble consisting of Richard Brown, James Fields, Veera Kaur, Shirley Levy, Alex Meade, Glen Platt, Rosario Rodriguez-Fernandez, Dionne Rose, jane Russell, Ray Samuel McLeod, Shereen Thompson and Janice Unwin, creating volume for the wake. Although they may have only been seen on stage for a few seconds, what an opportunity to appear with this cast, and it does no harm to list this show on their CVs either.

Directed by Amanda Huxtable, she really brings out the story in this play, all the subtleties, all the fun, the blend between the old and the young, and most of all the love between the characters, even when they are not getting on at times. It's all there in one- and three-quarter hours of straight through comedy and drama.

The set and the costumes were designed by Emma Williams. The set is a kitchen area with seating with a cut away screen to show the upstairs room, where a significant part of the story is seen. Loved the attention to detail for an elderly, set in their ways home including one of those glass fishes with swirly paint that they had in the seventies; my parents had a pair of these and seeing them again really took me back. There were lit photos which changed at certain aspects of the play, a wicker settee and one of those old-style kitchen doors painted green with glass panes. loved the set and loved the costumes, again designed to show the generation gaps between the family.

The Digital Content creator for the show was Esi Asquaah-Harrison, and really added to the magic of this presentation.

The Sound Design is by John Biddle. You really felt that in the other room there was a "blues/Soundsystem" style party being held, suitable muffled bass to give a certain distance from the kitchen area. The Original score was composed by Christella Litras.

Lighting is by Simesola Majekodunmi and used mainly to indicate the scene changes; an informative use of this specific area of the technical side of theatre.

I really enjoyed the whole family element which runs through this story, and I loved the characterisation and comedy the actors brought to the stage. there are a few choice words within the script which is why the play may not be for younger audience goers, but personally, I loved every minute of it.

"Nine Night" is at the Nottingham Playhouse until Saturday 5 November.