For all the years I’ve been visiting the Finborough Theatre, I never realised the space had windows. Usually, they are covered so that a set can be built, but in Naomi Wallace and Marcus Rediker’s The Return of Benjamin Lay, those three, ceiling high, windows form the backdrop for the return of one of history’s greatest abolitionists. The playtext tells us it’s present day and denotes the setting as ‘A Quaker meeting house – or is it a theatre?’. Based on what we see, audiences may struggle to believe it’s the latter.
Born in the late 1600’s in England, and eventually settling in America, Benjamin Lay was indeed a Quaker. Standing at just over four feet tall, he spoke out vehemently against slavery; publishing pamphlets and inciting protests, having seen the terrible consequences for himself while living for a time in Barbados. He cared deeply about animals and was a vegetarian; this was a man that spent the last years of his life living in a cave, not wishing to be a burden on any other living soul.
You’ll just about manage to deduce most of this from The Return of Benjamin Lay, but not all of it. The production sees Lay return from the dead some three hundred years later to beg once again to be readmitted to the Quakers, having been cast out for his views on the slave trade.
Mark Povinelli, as Benjamin Lay, bravely battles through the clunky and ill-conceived script. In this Quaker meeting, which we all appear to be participating in, Lay defends his actions by recounting parts of his life story, such as his time as a sailor or as a shopkeeper. The play lacks any kind of narrative clarity and doesn’t adequately find a way to get the audience on Lay’s side.
There’s some nice lighting design from Anthony Doran that helps set the various locations, and director Ron Daniels has made a good attempt at keeping the energy up throughout, but by the final scenes, which feel self-indulgent and out of place, we realise this is an underwhelming history lesson.
Unlike the real Benjamin Lay, The Return of Benjamin Lay fails to live up to its full potential and sadly makes for a rather dull evening of viewing. At least with the windows uncovered, the audience can occasionally observe passersby on the street below, which is moderately more entertaining than what’s happening on stage.
The Return of Benjamin Lay is at Finborough Theatre until 8th July 2023
