The Ballad of Klook and Vinette
Horizon Theatre
through February 18, 2018

It is really unusual when a show about a couple of American folks is crafted and premieres in London. Ché Walker grew up in a part of London not totally unlike parts of our town. He has been in theatre arts for many years and in this unusual opus he partnered with Andushka Lucas and Omar Lyefook to create the music and lyrics to move the story along.

It isn’t an operetta, per se, but it also isn’t the usual musical inasmuch as it is the discourse between the two actors which is often set to music and presented as such. Klook (Amari Cheatom) is a young black man whose been on the wrong side of things in his life. He’s now working as a janitor, has very little self-respect and a lot of anger imbedded in himself.

He meets up with Vinette (Brittany Inge) who is a young woman of his age who is trying to find herself and make a better life. Things are not going easily for either of them, yet they do find more glue that ties them together than grit to pull them apart. The show moves on a static set which is Klook’s small apartment, and the music is by Christian Magby on the keyboard and Maurice Figgins on Bass/Guitar.

You are not going to leave the theater singing the songs, as this isn’t Music Man or Cats. But, what many of us suspect is that this compelling tale must have been derived of some family or others known to the author. For it is too real to just be imagined.

I can’t tell you have things evolve, for the play’s the thing; and I can tell you it is thought-provoking and gives one cause to rationalize. It runs about 90 minutes without intermission and it is one you don’t want to miss. More info at HorizonTheatre.com