Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Talking to Terrorists
Last night we went to see Out of Joint's production of Robin Soans' Talking to Terrorists at the Royal Court in Sloane Square. I honestly didn't know what to expect as I'd only agreed to come at the last minute and wasn't sure whether I would be open to having politics thrust into my face that evening. Turns out, I needn't have worried at all.
The play was very sparse, almost minimalist; a series of concrete slabs flanking the stage and a set of tables and chairs being moved round constituted scenery. Eight actors played a dizzying variety of characters on both sides: terrorists, child soldiers, aid workers and politicians. All gave documentary-style, audience-forward accounts of their experiences, or else made quick cameos into others' stories. At one point an unnamed Irish bomber is juxtaposed in prison with the accounts of his intended victims. Another one sees a (hilarious) ex-ambassador being one-upped by his dancer wife.
"Talking to Terrorists" opened just 3 days before the London bombings, and the words of one of the characters seem almost prescient: "We'll have system failure", in bureaucratese predicting a major incident in London itself. I've never watched a play under more timely circumstances. Still, the experience was strangely hollow, a taste in the mouth but no fullness in the stomach.
The play was so determinedly apolitical and straight faced that it dodged all of the obvious pitfalls - sympathy for the terrorists, melodrama on the victims' part, and contempt for the political establishment. However in playing so straight to the "verbatim theatre" mold it also lost any sense of plot, forward motion, or dramatic conclusion. Sometimes I wished the actors would actually act WITH each other, instead of at the invisible camera I assume they were declaiming to. The monologues were brilliant and the actors faultless, but I found myself thinking "was that it?" as the lights came up and the crowd filed out of the theatre.
The play was very sparse, almost minimalist; a series of concrete slabs flanking the stage and a set of tables and chairs being moved round constituted scenery. Eight actors played a dizzying variety of characters on both sides: terrorists, child soldiers, aid workers and politicians. All gave documentary-style, audience-forward accounts of their experiences, or else made quick cameos into others' stories. At one point an unnamed Irish bomber is juxtaposed in prison with the accounts of his intended victims. Another one sees a (hilarious) ex-ambassador being one-upped by his dancer wife.
"Talking to Terrorists" opened just 3 days before the London bombings, and the words of one of the characters seem almost prescient: "We'll have system failure", in bureaucratese predicting a major incident in London itself. I've never watched a play under more timely circumstances. Still, the experience was strangely hollow, a taste in the mouth but no fullness in the stomach.
The play was so determinedly apolitical and straight faced that it dodged all of the obvious pitfalls - sympathy for the terrorists, melodrama on the victims' part, and contempt for the political establishment. However in playing so straight to the "verbatim theatre" mold it also lost any sense of plot, forward motion, or dramatic conclusion. Sometimes I wished the actors would actually act WITH each other, instead of at the invisible camera I assume they were declaiming to. The monologues were brilliant and the actors faultless, but I found myself thinking "was that it?" as the lights came up and the crowd filed out of the theatre.
Labels: london
Comments:
Post a Comment
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.