Scene 2
Enid cleans her living room as Viv does her schoolwork, whilst waiting for the pastor and his wife.
Enid is proud of her daughter studying Shakespeare and refuses her offers to help with the cleaning.
They talk about Del, Enid explains that she’s aware that she has lost her job in a burger place and didn’t come home the previous night.
Viv attempts to lie for Del but thinks better of it. Broderick ( a family friend) enters and requests Enid to help him with his tie. Broderick explains his frustration with the
way that the British government treats immigrants and questions why he had to pay £50 to get citizenship after living in Britain for over 30 years.
He explains that he doesn’t trust the government to honour it. Enid doesn’t share Brod’s longing for Jamaica or his distrust of the British government .
She even expresses happiness and pride that her daughter will get to university. Brod complains that she hasn’t told her daughters about their Caribbean roots, but Enid isn’t bothered by this.
Del returns home and Enid confronts her, Del is therefore forced to admit the truth about losing her job and staying out for the night. She displays clear anger towards her mother and expresses her hatred of living with her.
Del challenges her mother’s ideal view of life in England, she mentions her dead-end jobs and the poor treatment she receives.
She reminds her mother of an occasion when Enid was told to clear up vomit at the hospital staff Christmas party when she attended as a guest. Enid loses her temper and slaps her.
Leave Taking
In North London, Del and Viv are soul-sick. Del doesn’t want to be at home; staying out late – 3 p.m.-the-next-day late – is more her thing. Viv scours her schoolbooks trying to find a trace of herself between their lines.
When Enid takes her daughters to the local obeah woman for some traditional Caribbean soul-healing, secrets are spilled. There’s no turning back for Del, Viv and Enid as they negotiate the frictions between their countries and cultures.
Two generations. Three incredible women. Winsome Pinnock’s play Leave Taking is an epic story of what we leave behind in order to find home.
A beautifully observed, moving account of a second generation immigrant family navigating the familial conflicts between generations and cultures.