FRINGE 2019 WARNING: 4 Political Plays
7 Days
Venue 36 (La Cite Auditorium)
You’ll find plenty of ambiguity around which to wrap your head in this dramedy from the Egyptian theatre troupe named East-Voice.
But if you’re studious enough to read between the lines, deftly delivered by the onstage trio in both Arabic and English, you’ll find there’s plenty that playwright Aly Abdelnabi Alzaidi has to say about oppression in the Middle East at the hands of foreign governments that have occupied and continue to dominate that politically-fragile part of the world.
Long story short: Two slacker brothers are visited by a mysterious, demented chef offering to cook for them – until he accuses the lads of poisoning his dog. He then offers them an option: either go for a week without food and water, or head to the hoosegow. The bros choose the latter, with dire and occasionally hilarious consequences. During their sentence, the unwitting duo is forced to pray at a makeshift shrine of the departed canine, cook food for their nutjob guest, and dance for the sake of his amusement.
While Egypt hasn’t been occupied by an outside power since the Brits gave up on its Imperialist mission there in the mid-‘50s, Alzaidi still has loads of material in his tempestuous territory from which to draw. Invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are symbolically chronicled throughout the play, beginning with a promise of liberation, only to degrade over time as oppression rears more of its ugly head – with no sign of an Arab Spring on the horizon.
3 out of 5
POLITCAL PLAY NO. 2 REVIEWED: Darwin vs. Rednecks
POLTICAL PLAY NO. 3 REVIEW:
The Last Saskatchewan Pirate: A Play
POLITICAL PLAY NO. 4 REVIEW: Border Breakdown
