Vivid, poignant, and steeped in emotion, Emma Wilkinson Wright’s powerful performance in Rika’s Rooms is sure to leave a lasting impression

Gail Louw’s Rika’s Rooms, part of the Louw season at The Playground Theatre, is a compelling and complex theatrical experience that examines the densities of memory, identity, and trauma caused by loss.  Based on Louw’s novel, the play is inspired by the playwright’s own mother, who was sent away as a child from Nazi Germany to Palestine and then later as young woman moved to South Africa into the midst of Apartheid.  Now, aged 76, living in England with dementia, Rika dwells between two worlds: the present, which doesn’t make too much sense anymore, and the past, more coherent, but populated by people lost.  

Against the backdrop of Rika’s dementia, the play takes the audiences on a journey through the maze of her mind, exploring the symbolism of rooms as vessels for storing fragments of memory, and the profound sense of abandonment that accompanies Rika throughout her life. 

Fundamental to the success of this production is the remarkable performance by Emma Wilkinson Wright, whose interpretation of Rika and other characters is nothing short of mesmerising. Under the guidance of director Anthony Shrubsall, the actor proves to be in absolute control over her body language and voice, as she effortlessly inhabits Rika’s personas and the other people in her life. Her performance captures the sense of liminal spatiality that Rika navigates emotionally. In moments of profound despair, her cries, perfectly calibrated, punctuate the spaces between the “rooms”. In her performance, Wilkinson Wright unwraps the trauma that lies beneath the surface, inviting audiences to witness the raw, unfiltered essence of Rika’s experience.

The stage is set with intimate simplicity, allowing the audience to focus on Wilkinson Wright. The props are cleverly employed to allow a smooth transition between “rooms”, creating an impression of temporal fluidity despite the memory jumping all over the timeline. Rika transitions from victim to freedom fighter, navigating war, love, and personal choices. We witness Rika’s youthful idealism, her defiance, and her moments of vulnerability. “I need to fill up this empty room that I have become”, Rika says.

The dialogue buzzes with wit and authenticity under Wilkinson Wright’s brilliant performance, despite the many instances of loss and tragedy, revealing the inner conflicts faced by Rika. “In actual fact, I might want to be a socialist if I understood what it meant, but I don’t want to live on the kibbutz and not have my own stuff. I mean, I really don’t want to wear big fat Yudit’s knickers.’”

Rika’s Rooms is a must see for anyone seeking a moving and intellectually stimulating theatre experience.