Theatre
Alterations
Michael Abbensetts · 1978
Synopsis
In a dusty alterations workshop in the London of the seventies, Walker Holt, a tailor from Guyana, dreams of opening his own menswear shop. Mr Nat, an elderly customer, entrusts him with a large order of trousers to be delivered within the day, which could finance that dream. All night, Walker drives his colleagues on, while his wife Darlene, weary of his indifference, puts their marriage to the test: it is not only the hems that are fraying.
Context
The play was first staged in 1978 at the New End Theatre in Hampstead, a small eighty-seat venue, with Don Warrington, the very year the BBC broadcast its author's television series. It was also given in 1980 by the BBC World Service and published in 2001 in a volume of four plays by Oberon. With no stage revival for nearly half a century, it was staged in 2025 at the National Theatre by Lynette Linton, with additions by Trish Cooke.
Who it is for
A play in English, with no known French translation. A few points of reference on Caribbean immigration to the United Kingdom shed light on its subject.
Prizes and reception
The National Theatre presented it in 2025 as a drama that marked its time, and critics saw in it proof that its author's work deserves the stage.
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