Hot Wing King

This Pulitzer prizewinning play by Katori Hall presents as a warm family comedy drama and it works very well at that level. Cordell (Kadiff Kirwan) hasn’t got a job, and left his wife and sons two years ago for his new partner Dwayne (Simon-Anthony Rhoden) and he is still feeling guilty about both, but he is putting all of his energy into winning the Memphis Hot Wing Competition, and he has called on their friends and potential couple Big Charles (Jason Barnett) and Isom (Olisa Odele) to help.  Meanwhile Dwayne is worried about his nephew E.J. (Kaireece Denton) going off the rails.  The final character here E.J.’s dad (Dwayne Walcott) a man who thinks masculinity is all about being tough.   So, this is a found family of Black American men, bringing together different versions of masculinity and sexuality and all trying to live their best lives. 

 There are many layers here, including references to racism, homophobia and police brutality (E.J’s troubled mum died two years previously after the police were called to a disturbance by Dwayne) all very deftly pulled through with the whole thing often being played as a sitcom.  That subtlety worked really well, for example the standoff on who could eat the most hot chicken perfectly illustrated the different macho attitudes but was also very funny.  

It was also interesting to see the ‘N’ word being thrown around, often as a term of endearment, and in a way that it felt completely neutralised and owned by the men using it.  That felt very different to Slave Play last week where the word was laden with baggage each time it was used.

The first half could have done with some editing, with a huge amount of time being put into establishing the family relationships while cooking the chicken on stage and not really moving the narrative forward.  The second half motored along much more swiftly though.  I found the accents hard to follow sometimes which meant I had to concentrate quite hard, particularly in E.J’s case who seemed particularly shouty.  I enjoyed the musical interludes (particularly the piano which played itself!)

With lovely tender performances from Kirwan and Rhoden as Cordell and Dwayne, these felt like proper layered relationships so the play had a depth which meant that some of the complexities and deeper meanings were carried very lightly.  And there was plenty of real laughter to be found, even in the darker bits, particularly as the play got into its stride.

I really enjoyed this one - recommended.