REVIEW: The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

Something wonderful is happening in Soho. A new musical has opened based on an extraordinary true story that will blow you away. Literally. On paper the story of William Kamkwamba, a 13-year-old boy who saved his village in Malawi by building a windmill is not obvious musical material. But  the team who pulled this show together had no reservations.

Under Lynette Linton’s direction with Frankie Bradshaw’s set and costumes and the music and lyrics of Richy Hughes and Tim Sutton – the audience is transported to William’s African village – a place you may never have visited but know intimately by the last note.

There is already a film about William Kamkwamba  directed by Oscar-winning actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. I’ve not seen it but assume that a movie about Malawi, with the Chichewa language subtitled, may have presented fewer challenges than a stage show. Yet the creative team have solved them ingeniously, not least by personifying the weather with Choolwe Laina Mustanga as a magnificent Wind.

They also draw the audience in from the outset with an opening sequence that has the characters introduce themselves, immediately building a connection in preparation for darker times ahead.

This is, after all, a story about the devastating 2001-02 famine that swept through Malawi, turning crop failure into catastrophe. The Kamkwamba family were among those affected, most notably William, who is played by the handsome Alistair Nwachukwu. Though significantly older than 13, he captures the beguiling naivety of a child desperate to understand everything. Alongside him, comic charmer Idriss Kargbo brings boundless energy and humour as best friend Gilbert Mofat .

With a strong cast it is tough to single out individuals, but Sifiso Mazibuko and Madeline Appiah are incredibly moving as William’s parents with their duet, Show a Child the Sky – a song that stays with you and one of several moments that require tissues before the emotional flood of the finale. Great voices have that effect and the harmonies make the hairs stand up, never more so than when Tsemaye Bob-Egbe (William’s sister Annie) lets loose vocally. Furthermore, Annie’s song about ‘moving far from the home she loves’, has parallels with Fiddler on the Roof that are hard to ignore. Here too is a family facing political turmoil and threats to its survival — a story that feels just as familiar in Africa as it does in Anatevka.

The music – enjoyable, but not memorable – does have hints of Hamilton in the way Hughes and Sutton deploy their score, particularly with reprisals of Something More Than Magic which grows on you the more it returns.

Inevitably, a musical about famine includes death, but thankfully it’s never weighted by loss. One passing in particular, however, is heartbreaking and that is (sorry people) the death of William’s dog, Khamba, whose name means “go away” in Chichewa, though nobody in the audience wants him to.

This is all the more remarkable because Khamba is a puppet, yet he is so expertly crafted by Nick Barnes and masterfully operated by Yana Penrose that he becomes utterly real. So real, in fact,  I was desperate to stroke him. Realism is the production’s greatest achievement as the village feels lived in and the relationships so genuine that when bad things start to happen you want to help. That William does is what makes his story so compelling and though you know his ingenuity will  save the day, the audience remains invested in the outcome.

It helps that it feels like you’re in Africa rather than sitting in Soho Place, Nica Burns’ remarkable new theatre which has made itself a home for new work. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is another example of Nica’s excellent judgement and likewise that of Six producer Kenny Wax, who has an eye for spotting potential in a difficult  musical proposition. By the end, that proposition feels not just possible but inspired and if you’ve never been to Malawi, I suggest you go.

Tickets – /sohoplace.org