God's Property
A timely and compelling play about race, brotherhood and the weight of past mistakes.
It's 1982. London is restless, gripped by spiralling unemployment and inner city riots. Ska beats dominate the airwaves and in a flat in Deptford, two mixed-race brothers are unexpectedly reunited.
When Chima returns home, he finds that his sixteen-year-old brother Onochie has become a skinhead who no longer thinks of himself as black. Chima has been blamed for the death of a white girl and the hostile world outside won't rest until it delivers its rough justice. But will Onochie side with the community he's tried so hard to belong to, or stand by the brother he barely knows?
Arinzé Kene's play God's Property was first performed at The Albany, London, in February 2013 in a co-production with Talawa Theatre Company and Soho Theatre. It then toured to Soho Theatre, London, and mac Birmingham.
Arinze Kene is an actor and playwright. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayal of Connor Stanley in EastEnders, and has starred in the stage version of The Lion King. As a writer, his work includes Estate Walls (Oval House Theatre), which earned him an Off-West End Award for Most Promising Playwright, Little Jesus (Oval House Theatre) and God's Property (The Albany, then Soho Theatre). He was a member of the Royal Court Young Writers' Programme, and was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award in 2009.