The Initiate

How is it possible to belong to two different places at once? What do you do when you find yourself identified with something from which you recoil? And is every supposedly altruistic act just a defence of selfish interests?

Alexandra Wood’s new play, commissioned by Paines Plough, asks these questions and plenty more besides. At the centre of The Initiate is British Somali Dalmar, a taxi driver who moved to the UK two decades ago and now proudly calls it his home. But when a British couple are held hostage by Somali pirates, Dalmar and his sons suddenly find themselves treated with suspicion, prompting a dangerous trip back to his homeland to secure the release of these two strangers.

Dalmar’s motivations remain murky, often even to the protagonist himself. Is he doing this for the hostages, for Somalia, for himself? In George Perrin’s tight production, Andrew French keeps this nicely ambiguous throughout. All of the other roles, meanwhile, are played by Abdul Salis and Sian Reese-Williams, often requiring the actors to play against race in a way that interestingly complicates the play’s ideas about identity and resemblance.

There’s plenty to chew on here – perhaps too much. Of the many questions it asks, The Initiate never settles on a primary focus, feeling indecisive as a result. There is also the sense, despite the neatness of this in-the-round production, that it would work just as well as a radio drama. Wood’s play is certainly not lacking in ideas, but it could do with a bit more theatricality.