The opening scenes of Andrew Dosunmu’s very touching drama is the scene of a Nigerian wedding with its glorious technicolour of vibrant flowing robes, and energetic singing and dancing, and all the traditional rituals is a joyous sight to be hold. This rich canvas however is not set in Africa, but in a Banqueting Hall in Brooklyn, New York where Ayo is marrying Ike his bride newly arrived in the country.
Part of the ceremony is the bestowing of good luck on the newlyweds by their elders, and Ayo’s mother goes one step further than just promising them happiness but even names how many children they will be blessed with.
Ayo’s close-knit family run a small restaurant : his mother the matriarch oversees it whilst he and his younger brother do the cooking. Like a traditional wife Ike’s role is to keep home and look after her husband, which she delights in and even makes his favorite meals for lunch even though he is surrounded by food at work. Theirs is a real love match, and Ike does everything to make her husband happy. Which she succeeds in doing until months later when she fails to get pregnant, it starts to put her relationship with both her husband and her mother in law under a great strain.
Desperate for a remedy Iko clandestinely visits a Family Planning Clinic, but when she confesses it to her husband he baulks not just at the expense of fertility, but also worries that his manhood might be called into question. Iko appeals to her mother-in-law for support as she is panic-stricken that Ayo may seek another wife to get the baby he desperately wants. The old woman pragmatically suggests an alternative solution that is so shocking that it may even possibly work and give the family an heir. However at the same time it also risks the very definite possibility that if it back-fires it could completely ruin their otherwise very happy marriage. The real joy about the story is although that this couple’s relationship is very much set in the US, they still incorporate so many of the traits of a traditional Nigerian marriage. The fact that Ike’s best friend Sade is very westernized in both her taste in clothes and her dating choices is never presented as a superior alternative which is such a refreshing change. The choices that Ike chose to make were selfless and excruciatingly brave and very high price to be such a loyal wife, and its hard to believe that any American would have done the same.
Great chemistry between two rather amazing lead actors make this piece resonate even more. Ayo was played by Isaach De Bankole who won a Cesar (French Oscar) at the very beginning of his career and has played a baddie in ‘Casino Royale’ whilst Ike was played by Danai Gurira, best known to US audience for ‘Living Dead’ TV series.
Both moving and heartbreaking this is a wee glimpse at the way a moral dilemma is dealt with when there is a fusion of two different cultures. Unmissable.
In Theaters now.
★★★★★★★★
