Trouble in Butetown by Diana Nneka Atuona - ★★★★☆

Butetown (Tiger Bay), Cardiff, 1943. Gwyneth Mbnefo (Sarah Parish) houses settlers from all over the world.

Known as one of Britain’s first multi-ethnic communities, it’s estimated that over 50 nationalities settled in Butetown many of whom were sailors and port-workers. This includes local Welshman Patsy, and Caribbean and Arabic sailors, Norman (Zephryn Taitte) and Dullah (Zaqi Ismail). These three men find a temporary home and community in Gwyneth’s illegal boarding house, shared with Gwyneth and her two mixed-raced daughters, Connie and Georgie.

Trouble in Butetown opens with a look into life at Gwyneth’s boarding house. We see laughter, drinking induced high-spirits, sibling squabbles and a blossoming romance between Peggy (Bethan Mary-James) and Dullah. All remains relatively peaceful until Georgie discovers a bloody and breathless GI Nate (Samuel Adewunmi) as he stumbles into their garden, clearly on the run. After some disagreements within the group regarding Nate’s fate, matriarch Gwyneth has the final say and decides to let Nate stay, even if just for one night.

With Nate’s addition to the group, we see the story pick up pace and develop nicely, with almost all of the action taking place within the thoughtfully designed living room (Peter McKintosh) made homely with warm tones of browns, maroons, and soft yellow lighting. And, it’s within these 4 walls that we see the plays most notable moments thoughtfully written by Atuona. From Connie’s (Rita Bernard-Shaw) bashfulness as she falls for Nate, Norman’s musings on Marcus Garvey and Gwyneth’s experiences of raising mixed-raise children in Cardiff.

In additional to Atuona’s impressive writing, the cast of Trouble in Butetown are a very talented bunch, especially firecracker Georgie (Rosie Ekenna) who is in equal parts adorable and mischievous.

With Tinuke Craigs direction, the cast shines in the quieter moments, with as much said in silence as in dialogue. From Patsy’s disapproving glances to the clear unspoken longing between Nate and Connie, there’s a distinct authenticity to the characters that we loved.

Trouble in Butetown is authentic, human and altogether wonderful, offering a great opportunity to learn more about a town that was seemingly before its time.

The show runs at Donmar Warehouse until 25 March, 2023.