Scene 5
Now weeks later, Del has moved in with Mai and is staying in her estranged son’s old bedroom.
Del isn’t convinced by Mai’s powers but is impressed when she correctly identifies her dyslexia and difficulty reading.
Despite this they appear close and have reached a mutual understanding. Viv enters to tell Del that she shouldn’t stay with Mai in her pregnant state but Del refuses to go home.
Viv gives her Enid’s money and tells Del that she has walked out of her English examination as an act of rebellion because she is sick of doing things to please others.
Del is furious at this news and kicks her out, and demands she go and take her exam.
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.