Review King Cotton at The Lowry 12th to 22nd September and Liverpool Empire 25th to 29th September

King Cotton premieres at The Lowry with mixed success.

King Cotton tells the story of two men during the period surrounding the abolition of slavery in America. In Louisiana Sokoto (Israel Oyelumade) is separated from his family, beaten and made to work in a cotton plantation. In Manchester, Tom (Paul Anderson) works in a cotton mill where the bloodstains on the bales are uncomfortably accepted as the poverty-stricken workers try to earn a living. But when Lincoln abolishes slavery and declares war on the south, the cotton bales stop coming and Tom's young family starves as Sokoto experiences freedom for the first time. The two stories are woven together until Tom and Sokoto face each other as they begin to learn the price of freedom.

This should have been one of the most triumphant successes of the season. It is The Lowry's first co-commission with Liverpool Empire, built on Jimmy McGovern's first stage script in 20 years and directed by Jude Kelly, who has recently left her acclaimed position as artistic director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds to take the role of Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre in London.

However, King Cotton is only a partial success. Strong central performances from Oyelumade and Anderson give the play an emotional heart which is kept beating by the musical interjections of the Aston-Under-Lynne Brass Band and the well-known spirituals sang by Oyelumade, Wendy Mae Brown (as Sokoto's wife) and the actors playing slaves. The sheer scope of the play, taking in heaven, hell, two continents and a battle at sea, is breath-taking and clearly evoked by an excellent set from Ti Green. And in places the play is genuinely uncomfortable to watch, especially at the beginning as Sokoto is led around the stage in chains and an iron mask.

However, this is one of the few moments when the play really does deliver the blows that such an emotive subject should deliver. All too often we are raced through developments and scenes so quickly that we have little time to really connect with the characters, so their turmoil and anguish seems melodramatic. Also, the inexplicable decision to marry this story with a series of crass comic vignettes between God (a gruff Lancastrian in a string vest) and Obinna (a slave who, after being murdered by the cotton plantation owner, clips on some angel wings and ascends to Heaven) does nothing but undermine the dignity of the characters and the power of the story they tell.

Ultimately, King Cotton is a play that splits opinion. As the actors took their bows a fair amount of the audience watched, bemused and unmoved, as others stood to applaud. This was a good reflection of the play as a whole. If you are expecting a serious and complex drama which sensitively explores the price of freedom, you will be sorely disappointed, but if you are prepared to go to the play expecting to see an entertaining musical play which could give you a new perspective on slavery, you will be astounded.

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