Lower Depths, The
By Tunde Ikoli
Year staged: 1986
Opening night: 06/02/1986
Theatre Company: Foco Novo
Staged in: The Tricycle Theatre, latterly The Kiln Theatre
Cast Size: 4
Synopsis
Tunde Ikoli’s radical overhaul of Maxim Gorky’s The Lower Depths substitutes a shelter in the Russian Volga for a rooming house in London’s 1950’s East End. Errol, a thief, lives with prostitutes, pie-vendors, alcoholics, and the terminally ill. He becomes embroiled in conflict with his landlord’s wife (Doreen) over her sister (Nicola), while his landlord (Mr Koli) chases a debt he owes to Errol for the purchase of stolen goods. One day, a man named Talker arrives at the house, and his wisdoms give the downtrodden citizens a dangerous feeling called hope, or perhaps, the illusion of it.
Staying true to the original, Ikole’s The Lower Depths treats abject poverty, starvation, crime, and addiction without romanticising it.
Original Cast
Sylvester Williams
Errol
Maria Charles
Annie
Colin Tarrant
Cast
Joy Lemoine
Doreen
Production Team
Roland Rees
Director
Richard Moffat
Lighting
Nicolas Kent
Director
Keith Boak
Assistant Director
Tanya McCallin
Designer
Additional Materials
Poster (Birmingham)
Ref: FN/4/31
University of Leeds - Special Collections
Production Photographs
Ref: FN/1/24
University of Leeds - Special Collections
Production Management File
Ref: THM/317/3/1/43
V&A Theatre and Performance Collection
Production Photographs
Ref: THM/317/5/1/70
V&A Theatre and Performance Collection