The parts are sometimes bigger than the whole. That is emphatically the case with King Hedley II, the penultimate work in August Wilson’s 10-play cycle about African American experience in the 20th century. Premiered in 1999 and set in 1985, the play is overheated and, at three-and-a-half hours, overlong, but it contains highly impressive performances from a dignified Lenny Henry and an explosive newcomer, Aaron Pierre.
“What’s the story?” a puzzled friend asked at the interval; and the problem is there are too many of them. The title character is an ex-con who has done seven years in jail for murder and who is attempting to adjust to life in his home in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. But this is only one of numerous themes that course through Wilson’s play. Others include the unshakeable power of the past, the equation of virility with violence, the rancid individualism of Ronald Reagan’s America and the idea that life fulfils a divinely ordained pattern. There are powerful scenes, but too many of the plot strands – such as the determination of Hedley’s wife to abort their child – are unresolved. The confusing backstory is conveyed through verbal arias that bring the action to a halt.
Nadia Fall’s beautifully lit and designed production is chiefly worth seeing for the performances. Pierre, who made a striking debut last year as Cassio in the Globe’s Othello, is an exciting talent who brings an edge of danger to the eponymous hero as he wrestles with his inner demons, his patriarchal inheritance and society’s economic injustice. Henry provides the perfect counterpoise as an itinerant hustler who has the key to Hedley’s past and whom he invests with a stately cool that leads him to declare: “If I break a rule, it’s my rule.”
Martina Laird, as a former chanteuse last seen in Wilson’s Seven Guitars, is oddly mannered but there is sterling support from Cherrelle Skeete as Hedley’s pregnant wife, Dexter Flanders as his faithful friend and Leo Wringer as a Bible-quoting neighbour. The play is far below Wilson’s best, but is redeemed by some meaty roles here that are energetically filled.
At Theatre Royal Stratford East, London, until 15 June.
