The Faction are nothing if not ambitious, and it is their regular rep’ seasons at New Diorama which have raised their profile so extensively. Where else can you see three such diverse plays in one season by the same company, and thus get to know their work so well?
The latest show by BeFrank, who define themselves as an international theatre company, is Like Enemies of the State – a journey into the world of child-soldiers based on Writer / Director Tommy Lexen‘s research and experiences in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Much of the text is taken from interviews with former child soldiers, as well as with villagers, representatives of NGOs, the UN and the Congolese Government and, as such, is mainly verbatim theatre, with some dramatisation to break the narrative. Performed in the round, with a cast of four, it places the audience uncomfortably close to the action, and within the squallor and privation of the setting, which only serves to enhance the message it clearly wants to convey.
Dissolve by Awkward City is a non-narrative glimpse into the world of memory loss. I usually find it difficult to connect with shows which don’t have a strong storyline, but in this case it was entirely appropriate.
Olivia is a young woman who has lost several years of her life and is struggling to reconnect with herself and the world. The show draws the audience into her struggle, by presenting a series of dissociated fragments of her incomplete memory … we strive to connect them, to build up a picture of who this person is, but the ‘now’ of her identity as a fractured mind is more pervasive than the ‘then’ of her personality, built on forgotten experiences.
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