ARCOLA THEATRE LONDON – UNTIL 18th MAY 2024
REVIEWED BY JACKIE THORNTON
5*****
Just six weeks ago Nina Segal brought together a group of writers to create a collection of
short plays in response to what they see as a creeping threat to freedom of expression in the UK. The rapid turnaround result is magnificent. For political reasons, the writers have chosen not to be credited for their own plays as remaining anonymous allows them some protection in saying what they wish to express.
Each performance was powerful and rousing while also managing to balance big laughs and use highly relatable observations to make potent statements on censorship, hypocrisy and abuse of power. Two chilling pieces brought characters back from beyond the grave, reminding us of the collective responsibility of keeping silenced voices alive. Another saw a despotic president carefully stage managing his latest winning election speech while the story of a Rafah florist forced to swap his flower stall for a refugee camp was particularly moving. We were gripped by the unsettling rhythm of multiple women placed inside the audience repeatedly trying to ask a question, illustrating the recent experience of MP Diane Abbott in the House of Commons. Then in hysterics as a performer wielding a watermelon was chased around the space.
The evening culminated in a lively panel discussion where artists and academics lamented how democratically elected politicians are yet again failing to speak up against the world’s atrocities and how it’s artists who we must turn to retain any sense of our connection to humanity. We might wonder what a five-minute play can do to change the world and it may feel like a drop in the ocean but there’s no denying that it can get people talking. Art can change the world.