Tale one: a modern-day Briton, angered by institutional Islamophobia, flees dutifully to join the so-called Islamic State. Tale two: the child of Victorian aristocracy, angered by institutional misogyny, flees to join the British ruling British India and Afghanistan.
The first tale takes a commendable – though slightly sensational – stab at trying to expose the roots, which have led to Muslims taking up arms against the West. The second acts as an exposé showing the hypocrisy of the way that Muslims are being treated in the wake of the situation with IS. It plays out how, less than a hundred years ago, the British showed horrific brutality towards the Empire in a warped sensed of manufacturing civilisation.
Overall, they portray an overwhelming sense of how, despite roles reversing somewhat, females were and are still used simply as pawns to 'perform their [Christian/Islamic] duties' by bearing children to raise and further the cause and be used and manipulated as whipping posts.
Where Owl Time fell short in innovatively exhibiting the gravitas of the situation in the Middle East - more to come on this - with few sets pieces and props, Echoes shone a revelatory light on the audience using nothing but two benches and three (actual) lights. The power of the performance altogether came simply from the two stellar characters. Their individual monologues described and created incredibly vivid images in the imaginations of the audience. The writing, despite being a bit over-the-top, was compelling and accurate. The narrative arc took us through the highs and lows of the journeys the two women took amid some cracking interspersed jokes highlighting how superficial we've become as a society, too.
****
6-11 May 18:00 £11.50(£10.50) [1hr]
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