Call Mr. Robeson

We were well entertained by Tayo Aluko last Saturday.
It was just as well. We were kept waiting in the foyer and stairway for over half an hour after, while they sorted out some technical details to do with the performance being recorded. We were feeling quite hot and bothered by the time it got started.  Part way into the program, he gave a great rendition of old man river, which drew a good round of applause, and the wait was forgotten.
Paul Robeson was a singer, actor and entertainer, who used his fame to advance the lot of his fellow black Americans, and oppressed people around the world. He made friends with striking Welsh coal miners, and in Russia, where he first tasted the freedom of not being looked down on for his colour. Such friendships did not go down well in the McCarthy era, and he found himself isolated, impoverished and in poor health during much of the fifties.
All this was colourfully portrayed by by Tayo, who played the part of Robeson as an old man, telling the story of his loves, his passions and events from his life, and singing some of his songs.  There was just one pianist accompanying him on the stage.
It is an inspiring story, well told, and a good evenings entertainment.  At the end Tayo answered a few questions put to him by the audience at the Capstone Theatre, where he spoke about his admiration for the man.