A clever gem of the Lambeth Fringe that uses a sweet dose of absurdism (and a delightful bunch of spuds) to explore themes of immigration, climate change, and belonging
If you don’t know a lot about potatoes in the UK, you will after watching CAUSA: THE TRIAL OF THE ILLEGAL POTATO.
Written and produced by Raquel Bartra and directed by Cameron Krogh Stone, CAUSA follows protagonist Juana (played by Betsy Loza), a Peruvian immigrant who is so homesick, she sources seeds in London and grows the one and only papa amarilla (yellow potato) to make causa, a traditional dish which requires that specific variety of Peruvian potato. No other UK potato, she finds, can truly replicate it.
The only problem is that the papa amarilla is not on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’s list of approved plants. Quite literally, the papa amarilla does not have a UK plant passport. Indicted for smuggling and cultivating an illegal plant, Juana is forced to fight for her (and her potato’s) right to stay in the UK.
Countless technical and theatrical elements in CAUSA contribute to the production’s masterful storytelling – stunning reminders of the novelty and vivacity of Fringe culture in the UK and the ways in which that very culture is fueled by (and better for) the work of creatives from so many other countries across the world.
The intentional and exacting use of absurdism is of particular note in CAUSA. The UK legal system that Juana is forced to interface with in order to prove her innocence is presented, quite simply, as a farcical operation in shambles. The stuck-up prosecutor Petra, played by Chloe Wigmore, clearly has a short-sighted agenda and the cold heart of a Brexit-booming nationalist. She is unable to see Juana as more than an foreigner who just wanted a special meal for lunch. She is also unable to contain her sexual attraction to or annoyance with many of the equally absurd witnesses brought playfully and brilliantly to life by Sammy Attalah. Juana’s own lawyer, played by Cameron Krogh Stone, brings another delicious layer of ridiculousness to the proverbial dish of causa that is this courtroom play.
Courtroom plays are difficult, often resulting in too many words and/or not keeping the stakes of the story high enough with compelling and quick-witted legal arguments. But CAUSA keeps its audience on the edge of its seats.
Perhaps some of the legal arguments brought against her – namely, that Juana’s cultivation of the papa amarilla is the reason why Britain is dealing with a potato production crisis – are not terribly believable plot points. But what keeps the story so engaging and so true as a piece of theatre is the way it makes us all want to root for Juana in the face of her looming deportation. Like any of us immigrants in the UK, we’d do almost anything for a dish from home. Juana goes the extra mile, and her resilience and persistence – even though she technically breaks the law – is enough to make you love her. It’s an incredibly valuable use of theatre to humanize big and often polarizing issues like immigration, the failures and blind spots of an outdated legal system, and the rise of nationalism.
The storytelling of CAUSA is executed simply, with the confident hands of young theatremakers who have clearly proven this story suitable for the stage and have rigorously used every tool in the theatre’s toolbox to peel it open. It is only a matter of time before the tale of this tuber sprouts up at fringe theatres across London.