Tag: Sara Perks

You Bury Me by AHLAM, Orange Tree Theatre, 8 April 2023

Tahrir Square, 2011 (Mona sosh), CC BY 2.0

This was a fabulous play/production at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond.

It’s about revolting young people in Cairo – i.e. the story, over several years, of several engaging, well-crafted characters, initially caught up in the revolution which started in 2011.

This Orange Tree link shows you all you might want to know about the play/production.

No programme for this production, but there is a care pack – click here – this must be the modern way.

The playwright AHLAM is anonymous/pseudonymous, perhaps a proxy for the “always in danger blogger” character Osman, played very well by Tarrick Benham.

The play covers well the politics of those years – from hope through frustration to fear and desperation. In particular the revolutionary blogger character Osman and his gay friend Rafik, played well by Nezar Alderazi, illustrate the big picture.

But it is also a tale of interpersonal relationships. The younger characters, girls at the outset, Lina (played by Eleanor Nawal) and Maya (played by Yasemin Özdemir) getting in and out of trouble with boys and with each-other.

The whole production was very well acted and very well produced. The night we went, Hanna Khogali was indisposed, so assistant director Riwa Saab stood in for her at the last minute. Riwa is clearly a very talented young thing but not a actress – nevertheless she is a performer when not directing and carried the part astonishingly well in the circumstances, as did all the others, in particular Moe Bar-El whose character had to interact with Riwa’s character the most. Theirs was a “star-crossed lovers” story; him from a Coptic family and her from a Muslim family of cops.

It sounds a bit cheesy when described in simple sentences about the plot, but the stories dance between each other and across time to make a wonderfully engaging evening of theatre.

100 minutes without an interval, but at no point did it feel like a drag.

Mostly excellent reviews – see the headlines on The Orange Tree link or click here for links to the raw review material.

Funnily enough, Janie and I did find ourselves in Cairo, in 2012, when one of the secondary bouts of revolution kicked off. We could smell the tear gas when we visited the National Museum on the edge of Tahrir Square.

A Short Visit To Egypt, Day Two, The Egyptian Museum & Stuff, 24 November 2012

Janie and I have not been to the theatre much these past few months. We’ll be going a fair bit over the next few months. This one certainly started our “new season” of theatre going with a bang…and I don’t mean tear gas canisters going off in Tahrir Square.

Beyond The Horizon by Eugene O’Neill, Cottesloe Theatre. 19 June 2010

This production of an early Eugene O’Neil was twinned with a production of an early Tennessee Williams, Spring Storm, which we went to see a few weeks later, click here.

Janie and I are partial to a bit of Eugene O’Neill; almost as partial as we are to Tennessee Williams. While this early play is not one of O’Neill’s great plays, like the Williams, it shows all the signs of an emerging great playwright and was a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the theatre.

A very strong cast and production from a regional source; the Royal & Derngate Northampton, did great service to both productions.

The critics loved both; this search term – click here – will find you the reviews and stuff; mostly for both but some for this play specifically.

As on the prvious visit to the Cottesloe, we probably got some food from Shanghai Knightsbridge, “May’s”, afterwards. Either that or shawarmas.

Spring Storm by Tennessee Williams, Cottesloe Theatre, 15 May 2010

We’d been on a relatively poor run at the theatre for six months. This was more like it!

This production of an early Tennessee Williams was twinned with a production of an early Eugene O’Neil, Beyond The Horizon, which we went to see a few weeks later – click here.

Janie and I are partial to a bit of Tennessee Williams. While this early play is not one of his great plays, it shows all the signs of an emerging great playwright and was a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the theatre.

A very strong cast and production from a regional source; the Royal & Derngate Northampton.

The critics loved it; this search term – click here – will find you the reviews and stuff; mostly for both but some for this play specifically.

We probably got some food from Shanghai Knightsbridge, “May’s”, afterwards. Either that or shawarmas.

Wedding Day At The Cro-Magnons by Wajdi Mouawad, Soho Theatre, 14 April 2008

We rounded off our incredibly arty day – click here for the earlier events of the day – with a visit to the Soho Theatre.

From memory, I think we grabbed some delicious tea-time food in the afternoon a Yauatcha in Soho, unless I am confusing this occasion with another.

Anyway, we went to the Soho Theatre to see Wedding Day At The Cro-Magnons – see Dialogue Productions’ stub by clicking here.

It was a weird play/production, somewhat surreal, set in a sort-of war-torn Lebanon. I don’t think you could put this play on now, with the Syrian civil war so fresh and raw in people’s minds.

Lyn Gardner in The Guardian was not too sure about it, although agrees that it makes interesting points about war – click here.

Suman Bhuchar in the British tTheatre Guide found the piece compelling – click here.

I think it was a bit much for us after such a packed, arty day, but it was a short play which had caught our attention, so we were glad to have seen it.

Land of the Dead and Helter Skelter by Neil LaBute, Bush Theatre, 18 January 2008

Neil LaBute is good at short, punchy plays. These two, Land of the Dead and Helter Skelter – see Bush Theatre stub here,  are companion pieces.

It was a Friday evening, so it was stronger meat than we would normally choose for the end of the working week. Still, we were really taken by these plays and this production of them. The reviews we can still find tend to agree with us: