When Sami Abu Wardeh performed his hit show Bedu at the fringe three years ago, his Palestinian heritage was low, yet potently, in the mix. It now takes centre stage, as he develops his performance style far beyond clowning to address the plight of his compatriots in the Middle East. Its title, Peace de Resistance, implies a rallying call, but he delivers something different: a compelling collage of historical storytelling, jokes about colonialism, and a silent-comedy style that remains defiantly goofy in the face of abomination.
The main strand puts the Gaza emergency into its historical context, telling the story of an exiled Palestinian Lothario who falls in love with an Algerian freedom fighter in the 1960s. The brief romance acts like a siren call to Merguez to acknowledge his own people’s oppression and displacement. But – like Wardeh himself, perhaps – he feels sickened and helpless in the face of that enormity, and loth to abandon his carefree life.
Spliced with this tale, we get our part-Irish host, in character as a Dave Allen-alike raconteur, telling “an Englishman, an Irishman and a Palestinian” gags that expose the cynicism of British imperialism; and a hand-puppet dumbshow about two fluttering birds torn between loving and consuming one another, which you might – if you squint – interpret as an allegory of Israel-Palestine. Among several archival clips probing the psychological experience of dispossession, Wardeh samples Churchill, arguing for resistance to oppression as not warlike but as “the sole guarantee of peace”.
Add to this personal and family memories (his first visit to al-Aqsa mosque, say) recalled by our host himself, stepping out from behind the disguises, and you have a show with lots going on, and lots of emotional significance, implied if seldom directly stated. It feels like the show of an artist still fathoming whether and how (his) art can encompass the Palestinian people’s predicament. The clowning can feel like a relic from Bedu – but also like an appropriately absurdist response to a political situation that is itself beyond sense. It’s an impressive attempt – and no mean achievement – to wrestle something terrible into the shape of a comedy show.
At Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh, until 24 August
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