Basic Training

You know exactly what a show called Basic Training is going to be about don't you? Young guy goes to boot camp, is terrorised by a ferocious drill sergeant and emerges a man.

Well yes up to a point; a point about ten minutes into this autobiographical show when Kahil Ashanti realises that what he really wants from the US Air Force is to join its elite entertainment troupe, Tops In Blue.

At about the same time, he finds out that the abusive father he grew up with is not his real father. From then on it becomes a show about the camaraderie of military showbiz, and above all about the basic training of communicating with other lives.

A promise made to a dying girl leads him to press for more information about his unknown father and yes, some of those moments could have been unbearably mawkish. That they aren't is down to Ashanti's totally winning performance as he brings a multitude of characters to life with a turn of the body, a change of voice or a shift of body language.

There are some lovely stories. The moment in Turkey, for instance, when a life-threatening situation is defused because his mother liked Kahil Gibran’s poetry. Or the spine-tingling first encounter with his real father.

A lot of the show is noisy and energetic but what I shall remember is a sweet and enchanting story of search and reconciliation, told by the wonderfully talented entertainer who experienced it.