Review: SHOOK, Southwark Playhouse

Shook by Samuel Bailey tells the story of three young offenders Cain, Riyad and Jonjo in a young offenders prison.

Cain (Josh Finan), Riyad (Ivan Oyik), and Jonjo (Josef Davies) are not just young offenders but young fathers here to take a class in fatherhood.

Cain is a desperate for a ciggie, but instead pulls out a bag of sweets from his pocket, an indicator of how young these kids actually are. He would love to do carpentry like some of the other inmates but he is not trusted around tools. We hear of how another inmate spread a rumour that he found him crying after a visit, a big no no in their world. His retaliatory action of throwing boiled water over this person results in him getting some extra time lobbed onto his sentence.

We meet Riyad who is concerned that his girlfriend who hasn’t visited him in two weeks is telling him that their horoscopes are not aligned or something.

Jonjo doesn’t say much to begin with but he is the only one of the three that is most willing to learn about fatherhood from the new teacher Grace (Andrea Hall). Grace’s job is to prepare these teenagers for parenthood, ready to take charge of their futures.

There is wonderful thought provoking dialogue throughout the play with some very funny anecdotes and impressive performances by the actors. Adding to this, the play is so relevant in its observation of some questions; is the justice system really working to rehabilitate these kids into society? What are they doing wrong? Where are the support systems for them when they get released? Or are they doomed to this cycle? Do the probation officers assigned to these kids upon release care at all?

Winner of the 2019 Papatango New Writing Prize, writer Samuel Bailey says of the play, it is about the justice system but at its heart it’s about three young men trying to break the cycle of their upbringing so that they don’t pass it on to their kids. He hopes this play will help break the stigma around these kids.

Shook runs at Southwark Playhouse from 30 OCT – 23 NOV 2019 and I highly recommend go see it.