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Title: Small Island (play)
Author: Novel by Andrea Levy, adapted for play by Helen Edmundson
Published: 2019, licensed by Nick Hern Books
Performance: The National Theatre, London, 2019
Pages: 130, 2 Acts, about 3 hours
Genre: Fiction, Historical, Play

Brief Intro:
The tale of three intricately connected stories: Hortense longs for a brand new life away from rural Jamaica, Gilbert wishes to be a lawyer, and Queenie yearns to escape her Lincolnshire roots. This story traces the entwined history of Jamaica and England throughout WWII until 1948, the same year HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury.

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This play has many scenes that take place in different places in Jamaica and England.
Time frame: 1939-1948 (Chronological order)

E.g
A1 S1: Summer 1939, Jamaica (At a schoolhouse)

A1S2: Winter 1941, England, Earl's Court (At main protagonist, Queenie's house)

The rest of the play occurs in several other places, but the majority happens in Queenie's house, Earl's Court in England over a period of 9 years. Some flashbacks occur to show the backstories of the characters.

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Main Characters:
Queenie Bligh (British women)
Bernard Bligh (British man)
Hortense (Jamaican women)
Gilbert (Jamaican man)
Michael (Jamaican man)

PoV: 3rd person

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The play was emotional, sad, reflective and the characters often faced many challenges.

Pace: Medium
A mix of plot and character driven.

Character development: A mix of yes and it's complicated

Loveable Characters: It's complicated

Diverse Cast?: Yes

Flaws of characters the main focus?: Yes

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A1 S1, Hortense: (In Jamaica)
Hortense, a teaching aid living in Jamaica opens the play.
Flashback/ Backstory: She is taken to live with her father's strict cousin, Mr Phillips, his wife and his son, Michael. Hortense strikes up a friendship with Michael, and mutual attraction seemingly develops

A1 S2, Queenie: (In England)
Queenie is arguing with her husband, Bernard, in the house she shares with him and his father, Arthur. Queenie contemplates letting a flight crew of 3 men live in her house, despite Bernard's protests. Bernard later decides to enlist in the war after Queenie calls him a coward.
Flashback/ Backstory: Queenie lived in a farm, and when given the opportunity, decided to work in her Aunt Dorothy's shop in London. She meets Bernard Bligh, finding him quite boring, but is pressured by her aunt to date him and eventually marries him.

A1 S3, Gilbert: (In England)
Gilbert commonly faces racism and inequality, and has become used to it. He meets Arthur, who approaches him and stares strangely at him. Gilbert eventually brings Arthur back to Queenie's house. Queenie invites Gilbert to visit the pictures with her and Arthur, but a fight breaks out and an incident occurs.
Flashback/ Backstory: Gilbert and his cousin, Elwood, are bickering over Gilbert's decision to join the war on the side of the Allies. Gilbert is faced with the harsh reality during the war.

A1 S4, Hortense & Gilbert: (In Jamaica)
After the war, Hortense searches for Michael and mistakes Gilbert for Michael. The two talk for a moment, and Gilbert edges Hortense's fiery spirit with his playfulness.

A1 S5, Queenie: (In England)
As Britain is being rebuilt, Queenie searches for Bernard as he has yet to return home even after he had been demobilised for a year. Queenie feels frustrated at her situation.

A1 S6, Hortense & Gilbert: (In Jamaica)
Gilbert, his lover, Celia, Elwood and Hortense meet at Kingston docks.  Gilbert asks Celia to start a new life in England with him. Hortense dampens Celia's excitement by being realistic, partly due to her own bitterness of being unable to leave Jamaica.

A1 S7, (?)
Haha no this is an important scene to the plot that I will not spoil.

A1 S8, Hortense & Gilbert (In Jamaica)
Gilbert sails off to England, and only Hortense is there to see him off, making him promise to send for her once he has settled down there.

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A2 S1, Hortense, Gilbert & Queenie (In England)
Gilbert oversleeps Hortense's arrival, rushing to welcome her in. She is unimpressed and disgusted at the room and facilities that Gilbert has rented from Queenie. Gilbert snaps at Hortense, calling them 'lucky'. Queenie and Hortense meet.

A2 S2, Queenie, Hortense and a neighbour (In England)
A neighbour comes to question Queenie for accepting paying black lodgers into her house, claiming that they caused 'unease' in the neighbourhood. Hortense enters to ask for a basin, then later, Queenie offers to go to the shops with her.

A2 S3, Gilbert and some American workers
While at work, Gilbert faces discrimination from the American workers and racist comments that causes sparks to fly.

A2 S4, Hortense & Gilbert
Affected by his experience at work, he finds Hortense cleaning their room and misdirects his anger and frustration at her. They have a row until Gilbert steps out, later returning with a peace offering. Hortense shares her own experience of racism while at the shops with Queenie.

A2 Scenes 5-11 I would consider the ending, and the next scene was quite shocking so enjoy the rest of the book!

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A1S1, Hortense & her grandmother
"This skin is a golden life" -> People with a fairer complexion find themselves in a more privileged position (Colourism)
This is why Hortense believes she will have a "golden life" in England.

A1S6, Hortense, Gilbert, Elwood and Celia
Hortense feels bitter that she is unable to leave Jamaica while Celia has the opportunity to leave Jamaica.

A2S2, Hortense & Queenie
Hortense almost seems slightly affronted by Queenie's lack of knowledge about Jamaica and repeatedly rejects her offers to accompany Hortense to the shops and show her around.

A2S4, Hortense & Gilbert
Hortense is frightened by Gilbert's outburst and tries to retaliate by standing her ground, but is silenced by Gilbert. She remembers her grandmother's words, and feels upset that she has been disillusioned about life in England.

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A1S2, Queenie, Bernard and Arthur
Queenie and Bernard have differing mindsets about black people, Queenie being more civic minded and willing to open their house to others in need, while Bernard is more arrogant and a little xenophobic. Even in a time of war, he is concerned about hygiene and class. Once Bernard has left after signing up as an RAF man, Queenie meets the 3 flight members.

A2S2, Queenie, a neighbour & Hortense
Queenie's neighbour makes xenophobic and racist comments about Queenie's lodgers, intending to guilt trip Queenie into kicking her lodgers out. This however, reaffirms Queenie's stand that the Jamaican immigrants do not intend to harm anyone and that their arrival was quite "sweet" and was in disbelief of her neighbours comments. However, in Queenie's conversation with Hortense, she seems to be a bit ignorant and unaware of what life is like in Jamaica.

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A1S3, Gilbert
Gilbert, while at the cinema, faces the discriminatory sentiments of the public that cause a fight to break out between the black and white soldiers.

A1S6, Gilbert, Hortense, Celia and Elwood
Gilbert and Elwood have a disagreement, and Elwood says that Gilbert is very "licky-licky (prefers) England
Gilbert romanticises what life in England would be like, so it is a harsh reality when he actually arrives.
Hortense creates doubt about Celia and Gilbert's r/s as Celia had been hiding her mother's condition.

A2S3, Gilbert, Foreman & American workers
When Gilbert asks the American workers where the post mails are, he is ignored and made fun of. The workers also start to throw more xenophobic comments such as "darkie" and "coon", accusing him of "stealing from the railway". These cause tensions to rise and eventually escalate.

A2S4, Gilbert & Hortense
Gilbert return home and yells at Hortense when he sees her on her knees scrubbing the floor. He is later agitated by Hortense's mistake of cooking his favourite food. Gilbert regrets his outburst and tries to reconcile with Hortense.

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Themes:
Nationality, citizenship and patriotism
Immigration and sense of belonging
Racial identity, discrimination and acceptance
Personal ambition

Impression:
I think that 'Small Island' was very informative and moving in the sense that it included key events from the histroy of England and Jamaica, and portrayed different perspectives that people may have.

For instance, on the stance of Jamaica's independence, Gilbert and Elwood have opposing beliefs and motivations.
Elwood accuses Gilbert of being "Licky-licky England" meaning that Gilbert prefers England, but is disrespectful about it and does not try to understand the reason why. (More opportunities in England, esp. to be a lawyer)

The characters:
I think that the flaws of the characters were put in the limelight of thus book, better showing how the effects of WWII affected them, as well as the situation at the time. Queenie's father-in-law, Arthur, has PTSD, which shows the lasting effects of the war not only on places, but on people. Besides that, when Gilbert and Hortense were faced with acts and comments of discrimination, I felt quite sorry for them as I could see their very human reactions and the pain and suffering they have to put up with as they tried to go about their days. If either of them even retaliated, the xenophobic and racist comments and acts would double, and violence had also broken out as a result.

Literary Devices:
Irony
Gilbert also romanticises what living in England would be like, "so many fine sights", "fairytale castle" -> Wistful tone suggests his romanticisation of England. This is ironic as even after slavery had ended, the blacks faced racial discrimination and racial domination. Many also became peasants as they suffered the high taxation and highly priced goods. The 'Windrush' generation (People who came from the Caribbean countries from the 1948-1971) had a purpose of filling UK labour shortages, which meant that neither Gilbert nor Hortense really had a chance to achieve their dreams of becoming a lawyer and English teacher respectively.

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Yes, I would recommend reading 'Small Island'. Even those who have little knowledge about the situation at the time, I think that the writers did a great job of portraying the tension between the blacks (Jamaican immigrants etc.) and the whites (British & Americans). The characters also had decent character arcs, and while they changed slightly, they still kept their true values and beliefs. I watched the play, which was about 3 hours, and thoroughly enjoyed the acting of the actors and actresses.

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I read this book before I saw the play, so I was surprised how accurate my own imagination was. The visual description of the scenes and how the characters interacted with one another. This ranged from the length of their sentences, their sentence structure as well as the number of pause or tone of voice.

While the characters in the play speak directly to the audience whenever they did a flashback. However, I noticed that they did flashbacks only when necessary, such as when Hortense realised that life in England was not what she or her grandmother envisioned. This is seen in them reciting a rhyme that shows respect and admiration for England, and as Hortense's grandmother sings it, Hortense is reluctant to, showing how her perspective has changed due to her experiences. Thus, I can use a flashback to emphasise a change in perspective and feelings towards something.

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I think I can try to further develop both sides of the argument to make sure that both sides make sense and are rational. When I write a counter-argument, I tend to write it from the side I am on. From this book, I could see that both sides of when two characters were having an argument that they both were valid and justified.

For instance when Hortense and Gilbert got into an argument over Gilbert failing to pick up Hortense from the docks. Gilbert's reason as to why he overslept and missed Hortense's arrival was because he was working long hours and had gone to the docks early, but was told to come back later as the ship had yet to arrive. On the other hand, Hortense alighted the ship and felt abandoned on the docks especially after she had just arrived in England, a place that is unfamiliar to her. Her anger is also justified because she saw people living in groups of twos and threes, while she stood alone waiting for someone who promised to show up but did not.

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This book gave me an insight into what life may have been in the 1940s, from perspectives of both whites and black immigrants, who had no idea how life may be like for them in the future, much like us in the present. I learnt a better understanding of what discrimination and racism would have been like in the past, as we often talk about what racism looks like, but not so much in the past. All in all, this was a lovely book that ending held an optimistic tone, uncertainty still present but hold a hopeful connotation. The ending drew a parallel to that of an island, symbolic of the hope for the future, for change and growth of the circumstances.