Driftwood review – emotions dialled up to 11 in Trinidadian tale of longing

The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon
A 1950s Port of Spain setting simmers with political change and family tension in Martina Laird’s debut play

The air hangs heavy in Alma, a drinking club in 1950s Port of Spain, Trinidad. Heat and rum bring their own kind of languor – but in Martina Laird’s play, change is coming, both within a fractured family and in the wider world.

Alma is managed by a mother and daughter. Ellen Thomas gives the indomitable Pearl a basilisk glare but not maternal instincts (“the only thing I done wrong is to make children dat not worth nothing”). Ruby (an exuberant, citrussy Cat White) runs a honeypot scam on tourists, but doesn’t intend to “stay here in downtown hell”.