Us/Them is an
incredible play that goes beyond the usual limitation of theatre and leaves one
astounded by its accomplishment. And, as they say, it is a must-see.
It is a two-hander and the characters are referred to as a Girl and a Boy.
They are hostages in a school together with some 1200 people in total, 777 of
whom are children. The terrorists were Chechens who took over a school in
Beslan, Russia, in September 2004, the first day of classes.
Belgium playwright Carly Wijs is taking a look at the three-day siege
through the eyes of two youngsters and it is nothing like one would expect. The
play contains many facts (and some fictions) about the city of Beslan and the
view of Chechnya that the Russian pupils have been taught. The Boy and the Girl
tell us that the children of Chechnya go to
school until they are eight and then they work in brothels for pedophiles. The
fathers are drug addicts and the mothers have moustaches.
It is the first day of school and the
pupils are singing as thirty-five fully armed terrorists take over the school.
The Boy and the Girl describe the take-over and attempts at escape but the key
depiction is of what happens when people are seriously dehydrated. They go from
headaches to nausea, to blue nails, decreased consciousness and finally
hallucination.
Gytha Parmentier and Roman Van Houtven. Photo by
FKPH
The two children continue telling their story but we never know if they
are hallucinating or describing actual events. All are forced to raise their
hands up in the air and stay that way. They are not allowed to use the toilet so
bodily functions are done where they are. All the descriptions of the siege are
told in a matter of fact way through the eyes of the two youngsters without any
attempt at dramatic effect. This is not a story on CNN. The opaqueness, the
unvarnished description becomes all the more terrifying as we absorb what in
fact is happening. It is beyond description.
Strings are drawn across the stage resembling a spider’s web and the Boy
and the Girl navigate through them. They see or
imagine the gym where they are all imprisoned blowing up or the terrorists
leaving or something happening. Some of it clearly did not happen, many things
did. Again, this an intentionally opaque view of the tragedy and by no means an
attempt at docudrama.
The two actors, Gytha Parmentier and Roma van Houtven, are superb. They
are Belgians and speak slightly accented English but they are wonderful. They faint,
they compete for who will say what, they are playful, they dance, all through
an event that is beyond horror which results in the deaths of hundreds of
people.
The back of the stage is used to draw diagrams of the school and there
is a diagram on the floor as well which I could not see. Designer Stef Stessel
makes the set with its strings and drawings look
like a simple school project. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Wijs directs this intricate and highly original work that she wrote for BRONKS,
a children’s’ theatre company and it premiered in Dutch in Brussels in 2014. It
was subsequently produced in English at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This is
theatre at its most intriguing, original and fascinating
__________________
Us/Them by Carly Wijs in a production
by BRONKS and Richard Jordan Productions continues until March 15, 2020 at the CAA
Theatre, 651 Yonge St. Toronto , Ontario . www.mirvish.com
James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press
No comments:
Post a Comment