Managing the terror: Saleh Bakri (Khalid) and Shakira Riddell-Morales (Lubna). Photo credit: Helen Maybanks
Play: Fireworks
Theatre: Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court
Playwright: Dalia Taha
Director: Richard Twyman
Review by Natalie Gormally
Dalia Taha’s debut is an intense and intimate play following two Palestinian families, confined to their now deserted apartment block as their town is besieged by Israeli air strikes.
Many wouldn’t dispute that children are the biggest victims of war. According to UNICEF, at least two million children have died in the past decade as a result of wars waged by adults, while three times that number were seriously injured. Countless children struggle with the anguish of losing their homes, possessions, as well as those closest to them, while virtually every aspect of a child’s development is damaged. The psychological toll is incalculable, which is what is at the heart of Taha’s fierce piece.
Amid the daily struggle of survival, the two families are troubled. Ahmad (solidly played by Nabil Elouahabi) and Samar (the genteel Shereen Martin) worry about their son Khalil (played by the endearing Yusuf Hofri), a hyper juvenile, whose imagination and play-fighting turns dark and threatening.
Downstairs are Khalid (the wonderfully pained Saleh Bakri) and Nahla (the superb Sirine Saba), mourning the death of their son while blaming and hating one another. Meanwhile their sharp and talented daughter, 11-year old Lubna (the gifted Shakira Riddell-Morales), clambers for their attention. As the war continues on the outside, its terror and darkness feeds into the children’s games and the stories they tell each other.
Justifiably, Samar acts as the overprotective mother, fighting to keep her son’s youth and innocence alive. Khalid tells his budding daughter that bombs are fireworks – of the play’s title – and that “everything will be better after the war”. He adds that those who die (including her brother) have gone to a happier place in the sky.
This is a sobering and powerful piece portraying the collapse of childhood, the psychological toll of living in conflict and the survival facade parents erect to protect their children. Taha’s natural writing immerses us in the characters’ dreary and scary everyday, from the parents’ tense arguments to the children’s fantasy games, in a series of short scenes.
Lizzie Clachan’s set design convincingly creates a sense of displacement and claustrophobia, while Natasha Chivers’ lightening creates an effective atmosphere with sudden blackouts helping to transition the scenes.
Director Richard Twyman places a great deal of confidence in the young leads, with Shakira Riddell-Morales’ Lubna taking charge in the play’s climatic closing scene: a short spotlight monologue about the journey to heaven and the uneasiness of those left behind.
There are memorable performances from the adult actors too, particularly Sirine Saba’s Nahla, a mother who is all-consumed in her grief.
While at times you are left unsure of the story arc and where it is going, the play’s conclusion is both powerful and devastating.
Fireworks is at the Royal Court Theatre until 14 March 2015.