I
can only describe Strictly Arts’ 'Freeman' as a perfect piece of theatre. The performance examines the links between
racism, institutional mental health and political unfairness, across two
centuries. It does this in just one
hour, in a fast paced, high energy, slick re-enactment of six stories, all
linked by their political injustices and told by six incredibly talented and
versatile performers; five black and one white (this is a significant choice of
casting in itself).
So
how can you possibly develop any major storylines and make political statements
in an hour? Brilliant direction (Danielle Sanderson) and collaborative writing were clearly at the
core of this work. It just felt like these performers owned their stories and
had such an empathy for their characters' traumatic existences, it was utterly
compelling to watch.
The
opening section was so powerful, the audience was mesmerised by a flawless piece
of physical theatre. With bodies contorting and jostling, being dragged and
thrown around the stage and somehow telling a narrative of torture and misery
of the five black performers, culminating in the only white performer remaining
amongst a sea of five dead, black bodies.
The remaining 55 minutes told the tale of how these characters
tragically got to this inevitable downfall.
The
first and central story of the performance was that of William Freeman, a young
black stable boy from New York in the early nineteenth century. He was wrongly imprisoned for five years
having been accused of stealing one of his stable horses and his treatment in
prison brought about a series of events in his life which resonate through
history and raise the question of how much one can be held accountable for
criminal actions when one’s brain is impaired by mental health. The absolute frustration in this story was how
his mental health came about as a direct result of his beatings during his five
year imprisonment; neither the crime nor the resulting brain damage were his
fault. This story and each of the six
stories told, are so visceral that you just wanted to stand up and scream at
the injustice you were watching.
Another
story which stood out as a favourite for me was that of Sandra Bland, a proud
advocate of Black Lives Matter, who would post daily vlogs on Facebook and
YouTube to promote civil rights. Using
physical theatre and filmed projections, the cast told her story as it
escalated so quickly from an innocent driver, to a black woman, under arrest
and imprisoned as she is antagonised by the police. The use of the ensemble as the car and the
taser was incredible as we witnessed the unfolding horror and her inevitable
demise.
The
company even managed to bring in a sense of humour to some of the stories,
which was a good sense of relief in the unrelenting misery of these harrowing
tales. The way all of the six stories were told was brilliantly different from
one to the next and there wasn’t a theatrical device used which was unnecessary
or overdone. From human puppetry, which
was reminiscent of that in War Horse, to stunning gospel singing, 1950s jive
dancing and shadow puppetry, created from hand held torches. There wasn’t a
moment of the action on stage which felt wrong or stilted in anyway. This is a triumphant piece of theatre which I
am so delighted to have had the pleasure of watching.
Reviewer - Johanna Hassouna-Smith
on - 6/10/18
No comments:
Post a Comment