Review: Wolves On Road (Bush Theatre)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️

2024 has been another stellar year for London’s Bush Theatre, adding another Olivier Award to their growing collection and enjoying not one but two West End transfers with Red Pitch and Shifters. The stellar work at their theatre has led to a strong and consistent year across all their productions reviewed here. As the year now draws to a close, they are ending 2024 with the premiere Wolves On Road in their man house (though the studio has one more show to come) tackling the topic of crypto-currency, but would this production end the year on a record high or see its value falling?

Set in 2021, Wolves On Road charts 21 year old Manny’s attempts to make a better life for himself, dreaming of the dizzying heights he hopes await him. When his best friend Abdul introduces him to the world of crypto-currency, they find themselves making money faster than they ever expected. But what comes up must come down – would Manny be able to maintain this momentum and what would happen when the bubble bursts?

Beru Tessema’s writing immerses you in Manny and Abdul’s world immediately with the natural conversational tone of the play lending itself to humour and wit throughout. The opening moments set the tone perfectly with writing that initially impresses. The most captivating element of Wolves on Road proved to be a secondary story focused on Markos, the man currently dating Manny’s mum, much to his disapproval. This slightly more serious aspect of the story hinted provided a welcome emotional release with the sweet nature of the character bringing slightly more depth to the story.

Like Manny and Abdul’s journey into crypto-currency, Wolves On Road is very much a story of reaching dizzying heights only to come crashing down suddenly. This is where the play starts to fall apart, with an extremely disjointed second act never quite managing to retain the captivating nature of the first. A common frustration is the sense that the surface is barely being scratched with the need for more room for exposition and character motivation. While these are teased at with little nuggets here and there, it needed to be more fleshed out to make us more willing to invest.

Daniel Bailey’s creative direction pushes the small but versatile space in Bush Theatre to its limits making full use of Amelia Jane Hankin’s exciting set design and Gino Ricardo Green’s playful video design. An interactive segue into the beginning of act two provides the fun factor, though perhaps led to a struggle to settle back in to the story when act two did kick off – though this could also be attributed to the extreme strange in narrative structure.

Kieran Taylor-Ford leads the cast with bundles of charisma as Manny. Tapping in to the characters ambition, he gives a charismatic and authentic performance that demands you keep your eyes on him throughout. His differing relationships with the other characters showcases Taylor-Ford’s talents and versatility as an actor in a commanding lead performance. Other performances did prove a bit more uneven with Hassan Najib impressing in his turn as Abdul but a lack of believability in the conveying of her lines when it came to Manny’s mum Fevan.

Jamael Westman is reduced to an extended cameo as Devlin, opening act two with an extended sequence as the head of DGX giving an impassioned speech to the audience that almost bordered on parody had it not been so surreal. Nonetheless, his performance was so believable, he almost convinced me to give him all of my money (though I essentially did that when he was in Hamilton anyway). The cast is completed by Ery Nzaramba, delivering one of the standout performances as Markos – sweet, comedic and just a tad naïve, this portrayal showcased more depth than any other on stage and left me longing to see more from this wonderful actor and intriguing character.

Shows at Bush Theatre tend to more commonly be singular acts and this two and a half hour play did feel slightly like it could have benefited from being trimmed down. The fast and furious nature of the first act meant an inconsistent second act struggled to keep up and, ironically, devalued the overall production. As the story moves so quickly through its highs and lows, I did wonder if the inclusion of an interval killed the momentum and goodwill it had been building up from the start.

There is much to admire about Wolves On Road with its content every bit as ambitious as its protagonists. When it’s at its best, it shows signs of brilliance but sadly struggles to maintain that level and suffers from a dip as the narrative and messages threatens to plummet. It never falls to a disastrous level, however, and still manages to be an enjoyable play - I just got the sense that with a bit of fine-tuning, it could reach even higher heights. Perhaps not one of the strongest shows to be seen in that theatre this year but further proof of how versatile, exciting and full of potential their programming always is.

Wolves on Road plays at Bush Theatre until 21st December. Tickets from www.bushtheatre.co.uk 

Photos by Helen Murray