Review: Takeaway at the Liverpool Everyman ***

Creative director Nathan Powell got his feet under the table at the Everyman and Playhouse last December.

But programming isn’t an instant process, and it’s taken until now to launch his first official season.

Penned by Powell himself from a long-cherished idea, although directed by Amanda Huxtable, Takeaway picks up the Everyman’s audience and drops it in neighbouring L8 where the tale’s chief protagonists, the Hyltons, run a much-loved neighbourhood eatery caught up in a period of conflict and change – both inside the eponymous takeaway and outside its doors.

Inside Hylton’s there’s a power struggle in progress between resistant mother Carol (Phina Oruche) and driven daughter Shelly (played by Bene Sebuyange) who are pulling in different directions when it comes to securing the future of the family business.

This familial conflict spills over and also embroils Shelly’s older sister Browning (Adi Alfa), white boyfriend Richard (Bill Caple) and the takeaway’s jovial chef (Wayne Rollins).

Beyond the door meanwhile, there are newly tense and turbulent times in Toxteth where developers have designs on the community football pitches, and the community is fired up to deliver an emphatic no.

Who will win the various battle of wills, and even if there is a resolution, will that also lead to reconciliation?

There’s plenty of potential then in Powell’s core premise, but at present Takeaway is something of a curate’s egg.

Above: Adi Alfa as Browning and Bene Sebuyange as Shelly in Takeaway. Top: The cast of Takeaway. Photos by Sharron Wallace.

It was evident it had resonance with the audience on a busy press night, with theatregoers responding warmly to its characters - particularly Rollins’ chef who brings much needed light relief and a fizzing energy to proceedings, along with Powell’s at times keen, laugh-out-loud lines, humorous turn of phrase and some recognisable shared cultural references.

But equally, there are key narrative moments where it currently struggles to deliver much needed dramatic punch, and while things do get heated inside Hyltons – notably in a very bitter, all-out family row in the second half - the mirroring sense of tension and menace from the simmering unrest outside fails to permeate its plate glass windows, remaining a rather two-dimensional backdrop.

There is also room for the characterisation to be explored and fleshed out further, not least the pivotal role of Carol.

As the Hylton matriarch she’s described as having ‘a powerful presence’, but that doesn’t quite translate from page to stage where she instead feels oddly vague and insubstantial, which in turn creates an imbalance in the story's clash of strong personalities.

Above: Wayne Rollins as Chef and Phina Oruche as Carol. Photo by Sharron Wallace.

Alfa proves very watchable as the spare wheel elder sibling, and her character is certainly deserving of a more rounded narrative arc. I don't know if there was any input from a dramaturg during the play's developmental stage, but if so, they don't get a mention in the creative credits.

On the other hand. the delightfully dynamic Rollins is given a peach of a part and romps, mischievously, away with every scene he’s in. In fact, his chef-with-dreams deserves his own spin-off sequel!

Meanwhile some of the accents have a tendency to waver in and out and at times the dialogue can be indistinct – luckily there are accompanying surtitles which flank Georgia Wilmot's sunshine-hued set.

Last month, Helen Carter’s Shirley Valentine cooked egg and chips live on stage at the Everyman each evening.

Here, while the staff of the fictional Hyltons talk a good ackee and saltfish or expound on the delights of a competitively-priced patty, don't expect the accompanying and enticing aroma to envelope the auditorium.

All is not lost however, because Smithdown Road institution Raggas is taking over the Everyman Café between now and the weekend so theatregoers (and passers by) can enjoy a taste of some authentic Caribbean cuisine.