Small Island

03 Aug Small Island

This is an epic tale which ranges across oceans and decades. A stunning panorama sets the scene for tropical Jamaica and then monochrome post-war Britain. Brilliantly staged, ‘Small Island’ is at the National Theatre. It chronicles the rises and falls of two families, explores exclusion and neighbouring themes – love, loss, kinship, belonging, racism and small mindedness. I am left feeling ambivalently British. Not long after the arrival of the Windrush, one after the other my parents sailed toward new lives in the Caribbean. They were heading towards meeting each other on another small island.