This is a visceral and arresting performance, for which I’d buy Sunak a front row seat.
Founded in 2001, Gecko are an internationally acclaimed physical theatre company, led by artistic director Amit Lahav. Kin was commissioned by the National Theatre, supported by Home Manchester, Lighthouse Poole and London International Mime Festival, and is loosely based on the story of Lahav’s own grandmother, Leah, who fled persecution in Yemen in 1932.
This production is evocative, and timely, with excellent sound design by Mark Melville, combining music from around the world to brilliantly illustrate the stories of persecution and migration unfolding on the stage.
However, it is precisely the stories which let this production down. Moments of anguish, desperation, fear, and relief are without a doubt felt keenly by the audience, but the drama lacks narrative coherence, or indeed a clear narrative at all. There seem to be several families at points, although their origin or destinations are unclear. At times we presume we are in Yemen, with Leah and her family, but as the production goes on, where we are, what is happening, or indeed any narrative details at all become murkier and murkier.
At some points the cast are wearing life jackets, in an apparent reference to small boat crossings. Credit must be handed here to lighting designer Chris Swain who manages through his interventions to elucidate scenes like this one, which might otherwise leave the audience confused. And of course given the passage of the Rwanda bill through parliament this week, and the recent deaths of 5 migrants attempting to cross the English Channel, the message here is clear, and moving.
But it almost feels like this production is relying too heavily on the timeliness and relevance of its theme to connect with the audience, without providing us with any details onstage. The backgrounds or feelings of the characters, the context of their suffering – none of this is enacted on stage, with the result being an extremely general – if universal – portrayal of the plight of migrants and refugees.
The scenes are constantly repeated – clashes with border guards, setback after setback, families separated, reunited – and whilst conveying a truth about the perilous and frustrating journeys faced by many migrants – an opportunity is lost here to convey to the audience a sense of a journey. And as the drama wears on, no depth is added by this repetition, and the audience finds themselves wondering where the story is going, if anywhere.
The expression of the cast through mime, dance and movement is powerful, but their talent is somewhat wasted as the audience has no specific idea as to what their expression refers to, and the transitions from emotion to emotion so poorly explained.
This is a visceral and arresting performance, but it lacks coherence, and relies too heavily on the fact that migration is an issue very much in the public consciousness, to draw the audience in.
Still, I haven’t seen a drama with a message so relevant for some time. I’d buy Sunak a front row seat.
REVIEWER: Jasmine Phull