“A political drama dissecting global inequality and stirring in all the right ways.”
Thought-provoking is a phrase theatre reviewers reach for often. But in the case of ‘A Fine Idea’, it seems particularly accurate. Written by Christine Bacon and inspired by Jason Hickel’s bestselling book ‘The Divide’, the play sets itself an ambitious goal: to interrogate aid agencies in the battle against global inequality. Are these truly the road to systemic reforms, or are they just a tool to lessen individual guilt?
Set in 2024, the story follows Jo, an international development worker stationed in Kenya with a firm belief in aid programmes and their capacity to alleviate extreme poverty. There she meets Kala, a young Kenyan activist campaigning against a financial bill and fiercely committed to her country’s future. As Jo becomes increasingly entangled in local politics and begins to understand the powers shaping government decisions, her optimism and the myths sustaining her purpose start to fall apart.
Elly Bryant portrays a determined and compassionate Jo. Opposite her, Grace Saif’s Kala shows up sharp-tongued and unapologetic. Their stage chemistry drives the story: two young women with conviction and fire in their eyes, so different yet so alike, approaching the same reality from different positions. Around them, Georgina Rich and Kevin Trainor move smoothly through multiple roles, from an International Monetary Fund economist to Florence Nightingale, embodying institutions and histories that influence Jo’s journey.
The production is figure and fact-heavy, but moments of inventiveness in both writing and direction add theatrical wit. A statistics-driven section becomes a magic act about how donor reports can be fiddled with, and Jo’s inner musings open via dreamlike encounters with his late grandfather, who developed the concept of “International Development” in the late forties. One particularly surrealistic image sees an IMF-like entity removing non-essential organs from an agonising body that might be a person or might be a nation.
The play delivers the issues at hand in a palatable way. Its narrative is not one-sided; the characters pull back and forth with checkmate statements to argue opposing sides. The quantity of information the play lays out can be taxing, but it adds strength to the themes around global inequality. Rather than circling them vaguely, it allows for all the heavy subjects to sink in. We’re confronted by the idea that poverty is not an accidental phenomenon; it has been created.
Watching the play as a migrant critic who grew up in Latin America and is now reviewing theatre in London, I found myself particularly self-aware and conscious of the different angles from which audiences might perceive this play. The post-colonial realities the story outlines are not news-breaking: extractive economies, development narratives, unequal structures. However, the piece lays the ground to take the conversation beyond bookshelves and keeps an urgent topic alive through a sharp story with passionate characters and a clear-eyed focus.
The themes that the play forcefully nails over its ninety minutes seem to remain floating in the air without fully landing in the last blackout. While structure-wise that leaves us craving an airtight ending, it perhaps mirrors the diagnosis the play makes about today’s world: the journey isn’t finished, not even close; there’s shared responsibility in creating a fairer world, and a long road ahead.
A Fine Idea runs through 4 July at The Arcola Theatre. At 7 pm on July 4th there will be a Q&A with playwright Christine Bacon and The Divide’s author Jason Hickel.