Dawn Walton's hard-hitting tale of police corruption and racism has been wowing critics and audiences too. Sabrina Bangladesh was at the Hackney Empire to see if it lived up to the hype.

"I shared a pauper's grave - my name misspelt on the tombstone." - David Oluwale, Act II, Scene IX

Based on the first known incident of racist policing in the UK, David Oluwale was a Nigerian immigrant whose body was pulled from the River Aire in Leeds in 1969. This is a slow, gruesome story of the prejudice he suffered and the slow crushing of his ambitions and dreams. It's a story many of us can identify with and that we've heard in different forms many times before - Stephen Lawrence, Jean Charles de Menezes etc.

The police are shown to be under a veil of protection where misconduct and questionable actions are given a slap on the wrist. The officers on trial for Oluwale's murder were shown to have beaten him for a substantial period of time, yet were only convicted of common assault.

The play is based on the book by Kester Aspden and adapted for stage by Oladipo Agboluaje. You may well wonder why this story was only brought to light now considering it occurred forty years ago. This is due to the Thirty Year Rule, where government records can only be transferred to The National Archives and made available to the public after - you guessed it - thirty years. Makes you wonder what other horrific stories have yet to be told.

The play is a retrospective view of David Oluwale's life from his upbringing in Lagos, Nigeria to where it ended. Narrated by Oluwale's character to the Scotland Yard detective investigating his death, Sergeant Perkins, the play skips between recollections of Nigeria to 1960s Leeds.

Oluwale is a vibrant young man going out drinking and dancing with friends, who you see slowly become despondent, beaten and homeless. It also deals with other major forms of prejudice, such as mental health discrimination and sexism. In one memorable scene Oluwale receives electro-convulsive therapy after being misdiagnosed with schizophrenia, because "that's the only way to deal with the coloured ones".

The Hounding of David Oluwale carries a sobering message for modern day Britain. Dawn Walton, artistic director of Eclipse Theatre, which was formed in response to a lack of Black and Asian theatre, would like the story to educate people on tolerance. "You can't get away from ‘otherness' but it doesn't have to be ‘us vs. them'. It should be celebrated because of the different things that are brought to the table."

Productions like the The Hounding of David Oluwale remain sadly relevant and necessary. This is not just a story of racism, but of injustice in all its forms. We are shown how far from equality we are, but the message does not crush an enthralling theatrical experience.

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