When it comes to words, it’s no secret that Zadie Smith is an expert. Since exploding onto the literary scene with White Teeth 21 years ago, she’s won acclaim for her novels, short stories and non-fiction – most recently capturing the highs and lows of a pandemic year in her collection of essays, Intimations. Now, she brings us a wholeheartedly joyous offering in her first play, The Wife Of Willesden, opening at London’s Kiln Theatre next week. If you’re thinking the title rings a bell, you’re not wrong – it’s a reimagining of The Wife Of Bath, Geoffrey Chaucer’s famed short story from way back in 1386. However, this time around, expect some welcomed, modern updates.
Firstly, Alyson (aka the wife of Bath) remains largely the same in spirit: a brash, honest, salacious, unapologetic woman, recounting her thoughts on what women desire most with conviction – only now, she’s called Alvita, a Jamaican-born British woman in her mid-50s. Factor in the theatre being transformed into a pub in the north west London borough of Brent (aka Smith’s native neighbourhood), the modern-day language (including references to the area as ‘North Weezy’ and use of ‘bruv’), and you get the picture – it’s Smith through and through. Tickets are still available, but if you miss out or can’t get to London, there’s also an accompanying book (£5.99, Penguin), written in all its rhyming couplets glory, to add to the Zadie Smith collection on your bookshelf. Let’s hope Smith is just as revered as Chaucer seven centuries from now… 11 November-24 December; from £15; Kiln Theatre; 269 Kilburn High Rd, London, NW6
