Delivered with exuberance by talented Canadian actors, these linked monologues of female black suffering and resilience have a charm that's more inclusive than their subject matter would suggest.
Set in a black hair salon, the kink of the title is a metaphor for the individuality of each of the by turns oppressed and liberated women whose locks pass under the hands of the strong, emotionally available stylist Novelette.
As each woman approaches the chair, she steps forward to relate her story.
They are tales of suffering at the hands of men and society. A woman works to put her man through medical school then is deserted for an educated white woman. A movie star is rejected by her mother for being a lesbian.
Writer Trey Anthony keeps up a consistent pattern of narrative throughout, moving from painful confession to hopeful self-assertion.
Of course it feels contrived and schmaltzy, but these actresses know how to move an audience, whipping us up into sympathetic applause or laughter.
Twice, Anthony reaches a little too far. A granny who's getting some feels like what it is - a grasp at an uplifting firsthalf finale. A simple Jamaican child's abuse by her stepfather is harrowing, yet so outside the play's main gist as to seem manipulative - how can "being abused" be thought of as one's "kink"?
The rest though is loudly human and effortlessly enjoyable.
Until 25 November (020 8985 2424) www.hackneyempire.co.uk
'Da Kink In My Hair
Hackney Empire
Mare Street, E8 1EJ
