The myth that theatre made for village halls and rural touring can’t be challenging either in form or content is blown away by this enjoyable, thoughtful and self-aware show that is delivered with a big dose of raggedy charm. Set in Tehran, a place where dissidence can easily lead to prison, Kevin Dyer’s three-hander demonstrates with a light touch how easily people become refugees, and how everyone needs somebody to catch them when they fall. It’s a show with a big heart; a show about community, designed to play in communities.
It takes place at a party hastily arranged by Abbas. His wife, Maryam, and student daughter Eli, clearly love him, but also often find him a bit embarrassing. We can see and smell soup bubbling away on the cooker. Tea is handed around. Some audience members may be called upon to help with the preparations – but that’s just what friends do, isn’t it? They help each other in their hour of need. In the past, Abbas and his family have been in need, and now they want to thank everyone. But why now and at this impromptu party? And why is Abbas so jumpy about the blue car parked outside?
As the soup is ladled out and we eat together, it becomes apparent that all is not quite as it seems. Dyer’s script offers some surprises and subtleties, throws up some tricky moral questions and explores how the repressions of the state are mirrored by repressions within the family. Survival always comes at a price.
This kind of theatre, played out in the midst of the audience and requiring constant interaction, is not easy to deliver, but Hannah Paybarah, Natalia Campbell and Mick Strobel do so with skill and warmth.
- At Alciston and Selmeston village hall, East Sussex, 10 March. Box office: 01323 811396. Then touring until 24 April.
