Review: Songs and Solidarity, Trafalgar Studios

"We could see this was a bad one immediately. The sky was glowing."

Touted as an evening of song, dance and poetry, Songs and Solidarity was a remarkable event indeed. A fundraising gala evening pulled together in the space of a week by the superhuman efforts of actor Giles Terera and producer Danielle Tarento, it was a concert for the hundreds of families made homeless and the relatives of those who lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower fire. Hosted by Claire Sweeney, musically directed by the enormously talented Tim Sutton, 

The balance of the programme was just right too. From pure musical loveliness like the gentle harmonies of Tyrone Huntley and Jon Robyns on Cyndi Lauper's 'True Colors' and the simplicity of Rachel Tucker's acapella take on 'She Moved Through The Fair', to the more intense emotion of Terera's own 'Ol' Man River' and a visibly moved Clare Foster's 'Don't Worry About Me' (a song with which I wasn't familiar but rather destroyed me). From the much-needed comic relief of Stiles & Drewe skipping through 'A Little Bit of Nothing On A Big White Plate' to the soul-warming 'Indiscriminate Acts Of Kindness' performed by the ever excellent Julie Atherton.

The more stirring emotional moments came from those performers talking about their more personal connection to the tragedy. Musician Earl Okin spoke movingly about living in the shadow of the tower itself before a stunning version of Billie Holiday's 'God Bless The Child', polymath Rikki Beadle-Blair turned his experience of being evicted from his own tower block into something akin to performance art before an impassioned 'Change Is Gonna Come', Mark Thomas had us in tears of laughter with his comedy set before expertly twisting the knife with his fervent defence of public servants, particularly the firefighters whom he had visited just to say thank you.

Musical numbers were interspersed with powerful extracts of verbatim testimony from some of the survivors of the fire, read by the likes of Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rakhee Thakrar and Vikesh Bhai, even Dame Judi Dench got in on the action with a recording. But for me, the most memorable part of the evening came with Noma Dumezweni's recital of this Facebook post from a firefighter who attended Grenfell. Gently asking us to close our eyes and to consider this a radio play, it was a sobering reminder of exactly what we ask of our much beleaguered emergency services and of the scale of the tragedy which should not, can not, must not be forgotten.

It was also instructive and inspirational to hear from Eartha Pond, the Queens Park councillor who set up this GoFundMe page to help provide a focal point for support and whose tireless efforts on the ground to help those affected by the fire are being fitted around the responsibilities of her day job. In the words of Heather Small, a surprise addition to the bill, 'what have you done today to make yourself feel proud?' Well, you can still donate money and if you are quick, you can also still participate in the silent auction (entries close on Friday 30th). 




Programme
Had I A Golden Thread - Alexia Khadime
Total Praise - West End Gospel Choir
We've Lost Everything - Vikesh Bhai
True Colors - Tyrone Huntley and Jon Robyns
I Said Listen, We Have To Go Back - Nikki Amuka-Bird
Natural Woman - Cassidy Janson
Extract from The Hotel Cerise and Still I Rise by Maya Angelou - Bonnie Greer 
God Bless The Child - Earl Okin
Your Face - The Olai Collier Company feat. Caitlin Taylor and Ayden Morgan
Mark Thomas
Change Is Gonna Come - Rikki Beadle-Blair, accompanied by Jami Reid Quarrell
Ol' Man River - Giles Terera
She Moved Through The Fair - Rachel Tucker
Wind Beneath My Wings - Rachel Tucker

A Little Bit of Nothing On A Big White Plate - Stiles & Drewe
One Thing I'll Say, I'm Proud Of The Young People - Rakhee Thakrar
Don't Worry About Me - Clare Foster
It's Not About Muslim Or Christian - Nikki Amuka-Bird
Redemption Song - Tyrone Huntley
Indiscriminate Acts Of Kindness - Julie Atherton, accompanied by Curtis Volp
The Fire Fighter - Noma Dumezweni
Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries - Claire Sweeney
Sweet Thing - David McAlmont accompanied by Curtis Slapper
Proud - Heather Small
You've Got A Friend - Cassidy Janson and Company



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