By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN? Friday 28 August, opens 3 September and runs through 24 October 2026 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

The best thing about this revival of a 2003 US play inspired by a 1981 scandal in which a journalist won a Pulitzer Prize for writing about an inner city child only to later admit the story was fraudulent is the promising performance of Letitia Wright (pictured centre above) at its heart.

• Read on for reasons including why today’s UK headlines would be a more relevant place for this venue to seek to represent the population it should be serving

The National Theatre is at its strongest when it’s telling stories such as 2014’s Great Britain starring Amandaland‘s Lucy Punch about the phone hacking scandal and The Story is a curious choice especially given current events in Middlesbrough where a forensic examination of UK media might have been more telling.

Wright plays Yvonne, a new African American reporter on a major metropolitan newspaper, who soon grows tired of the mundane assigments she’s given by her mentor Lorraine Toussaint’s disapproving Pat and instead decides to pursue the truth around the paper’s big story, the murder of a white teacher killed in a black neighbourhood.

There are some interesting issues at play here – Yvonne’s lack of acceptance by her colleagues, how her sexual relationship with her male boss is hidden and the erosion of the vital importance of the media reporting the truth.

There’s a better example of the National portraying international work at the Lyttelton Theatre currently, the Cate Blanchett-starring Electra/Persona, but rather than the dated telling of The Story we wondered why the venue wasn’t seeking the next Great Britain for a tale with more relevance closer to home?

Director Clint Dyer put an interesting spin on One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest recently at the Old Vic and was behind the extraordinary Death Of England series birthed at this venue and yet in his hands The Story feels out of date and lacking in cultural relevance.

Toussaint’s Pat should be the character viewers gravitate towards as the difficult editor trying to teach Yvonne the value of her profession the hard way but our main problem with The Story was that there was no-one likeable enough for this audience member to root for.

The truth is that the media is full of people striving to do the right thing and give a voice to those who need it most but Tracey Scott Wilson’s script seemed to have little room for nuance or subtlety.

Perhaps this venue is banking on the popularity of Wright, from the Avengers films to propel this difficult sell but it’s certainly a curious choice to have this playing in the 1,150 capacity Olivier while it’s almost impossible to get a ticket for the very Welsh and gay musical Pride in the comparative shoebox that is the 450-seater Dorfman.

Wright’s performance is the standout here and doubtless Dyer was attracted by the thorny race questions the material poses.

But we wouldn’t recommend The Story when today’s UK headlines and the reasons behind them would be a more relevant place for this venue to seek to represent the population it’s paid to serve.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy National Theatre Tickets with some pictures by Feruza Afewerki
• Have you seen a Letitia Wright work before and what did you think of it? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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