Sunday 7 October 2018

REVIEW: Freeman - The Lowry Theatre, Salford.



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

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