Monkey Business

After a successful run at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield Theatre residents Eclipse Theatre take One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show on the road. Guest blogger Marishka Van Steenbergen talks to director Dawn Walton about the play.

One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show is a play about ‘breaking out’, about challenging expectations and stereotypes and about being true to yourself. Felix, the black middle class preppy son admits; “I’m a tiger…A roarin’ tiger just waitin’ to break loose from all this bourgeois-good-little-boy jive…” Meanwhile, his southern cousin unveils the dilemma of class politics as she muses to the audience; “I just wish I was a little more…sophisticated…a little more high class…”

This co-production between Eclipse Theatre Company and Sheffield Theatres truly had the audience roaring with laughter this summer at the Crucible. Don Evans’ play is set in Philadelphia in the mid 1970s, when the quiet life of a respectable middle class black family is turned upside down with the arrival of their out-spoken young niece from the rural south.

Despite being 30 years old, One Monkey retains its humour and its resonance to this day, evident in the sound of laughter throughout and the smiling faces at the end. Director Dawn Walton agrees that Don Evans was “way ahead of his time” in dealing with gender, class and race politics with great humour and insight. She regrets never having had the chance to meet him and is pleased to be uncovering a “horribly neglected comedy genius”.

Dawn chose to stage One Monkey as a TV sitcom, this both draws the audience in as they feel part of a live studio recording, whist also allowing them to step back and reflect on the issues being dealt with. Dawn says that the relationship between the audience and theatre is very important to Eclipse, she is aware that new audiences want to interact, to be able to “talk to the stage the way people talk back to a TV”, this setting allows the audience to respond and at the same time to be part of the play.

When I mention the undeniable connection with The Cosby Show and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Dawn reveals a secret gem. Don Evans’ play was written before these sitcoms, yet Dawn suspected there must be a link. Whilst carrying out some research in Philadelphia she received a phone call from LA, it was the actor Walter Allen Bennett Jr., who first played Felix in Evans’ play.  Bennett told Dawn that he had written numerous screenplays for The Cosby Show and thereby confirmed her instinct that Evans’ had influenced the sitcoms. This is why she chose to stage the play as a live TV sitcom; “Don wrote for people who would normally watch TV, this is what Eclipse is all about; bringing new audiences into theatre.”

This aim is coupled with Eclipse’s mission to promote diversity and address the absence of black theatre within the regional middle-scale touring network; providing a high quality, black British perspective. Dawn feels that their recent move to become resident with Sheffield Theatres makes them “doubly confident about being able to build on these objectives.” Eclipse has been nomadic for many years, however Dawn believes that the way for them to grow is to have a solid base and a good home. Whilst directing There’s Only One Wayne Matthews Dawn fell in love with the Crucible and began discussions with Sheffield Theatres CEO Dan Bates and Artistic Director Daniel Evans. A shared ethos and commitment to developing the relationship their audiences have with theatre as well as widening their reach meant a partnership was inevitable.

You can learn more about Eclipse Theatre here.

One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show is touring to Bristol, London, Ipswich, Croydon and Manchester before finishing its current run at West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds from 1- 5 November. Full touring details can be found here.