Like any great play, The Story at National Theatre asks more questions than it answers.
Truth has taken on a flexible persona in the last 10 years. News outlets reporting on the decline of it while themselves manipulating narrative, has become the kind of Black Mirror-esque metaverse we have resigned to normality.
Journalism and objectivity also carry an air of antiquity to them. Occupying comfortably curated frames of vision, we are all guilty of picking and choosing fact.
Nevertheless, a story which takes place smack-bang in middle of the life of a reporter is well-excavated storyground for a reason. Being privy to the inbreath before a story breaks is intoxicating stuff which, when done well, can not only sharpen the audience’s appreciation for journalism at its most thorough, but fundamentally change their perception of truth.
Wilson’s play is set in an American low-income neighbourhood in 2003. When a white teacher gets murdered by a black assailant, an ensemble of reporters project their takes with hard-carved enunciations as the ‘real life’ crime unfolds centrally.
It’s protagonist Yvonne’s (played by the formidable Letitia Wright) first day at local newspaper, The Vanguard. Not your average nervous new girl, Yvonne enters the space with a bulldog self-assuredness, ready to interpersonally manipulate her way through ‘doing her time’ before moving as quickly as possible into the newsroom. The latter is conveniently guard-railed by her boyfriend – and nepo- grandson – Jeff (Wilf Scolding), who lovingly guides Yvonne’s ferocity along the path to proving herself with a tinge of fetishisation.
Yvonne’s desire to be a “Reporter, not a Black reporter” comes to loggerheads with Pat (Lorraine Toussaint), Vanguard’s hardened editor, who insists on low-profile positive coverage to cut through the prolific demonisation of her community.
When Yvonne claims to have stumbled upon the teacher’s killer, Pat pits her loyal comrade Neil (Ashley Thomas) against her in a race towards the Byline goal. A sprawling and dangerous saga unfolds. Suddenly, the truth in all its virtuous power, becomes competitive, divisive and dangerous.
The story of The Story makes you wait a while for surprising territory, with an eventual twist which asks long-awaited questions about the fragments of what we have seen. At times the demandingly snappy direction means details fall to the ground – perhaps intentionally. But the dialogue bordering on patter doesn’t phase these astute actors. Wright deftly leads the company through steep character archs and theatrical sweeps from scene to scene, humor to outrage.
The design by Anna Fleischle – a vast and tall sports gym – carries the cold desolation of an economically challenged playground accentuated further by Paul Anderson’s derelict chink-of-light slices. There is nothing cosy or comforting to hold onto, the softest furnishing being brown leather chairs we see only Jeff loll about on.
Like any great play, the piece asks more questions than it answers. Truth, race, class, sex and belonging are often explored through guffaw-inducing irony, which highlights the unfortunate timelessness of these subjects.
Let’s hope this play is not as urgent in another 20 years time.
★★★★
Reviewed by Nicole Darvill-Batten
