by Luisa De la Concha Montes
Cutting the Tightrope hosts a sequence of brief sketches which might be united by the identical matter: censorship. It was created as a direct response to the Arts Council England’s now retracted steering that political statements made by people linked to an organisation could cause reputational dangers. From the struggle in Gaza to the rise of authoritarian regimes, every sketch explores the political, social and emotional results that the dearth of freedom of expression could have.
The kinds are diverse; some sketches use comedy, whereas others utilise fiction. For occasion, “Watermelon” is a contemporary model of Tom & Jerry, the place Tom is a pro-Palestinian activist and Jerry is a right-wing cry child. The sketch is split in three components carried out throughout the evening, and it makes use of slapstick comedy to speak in regards to the energy of visible symbols (such because the watermelon within the pro-Palestinian motion) and to ridicule those that wish to prohibit their use. In opposition, “Dare not Speak” and “Maulvi’s Head” deliver two characters again from the grave, cleverly utilizing fiction to assist us think about what martyrs must say if they might converse.
Quite a lot of the sketches are advised by migrant voices from the Global South, inviting us to query the function that the Global North (and extra particularly, the United Kingdom) has performed in creating systemic inequalities. The political angle is prevalent all through the present, but the kinds alternate between manifesto-like dialogue (as within the case of “46 women attempt a question” or “Another person’s face”), and with the staging of day-to-day conditions, comparable to within the case of “Suitable Subjects” the place an artist-activist lastly meets her accomplice’s dad and mom solely to understand they’re apolitical.
A private favorite is “The Florist of Rafah”, wherein a father and flower store proprietor reminisces about his life earlier than the invasion. He joyfully tells us in regards to the man who purchased completely different flowers for various girlfriends, and the {couples} that purchased flowers to make up after preventing. His voice initiatives a unique type of grief – the grief that may solely be discovered within the face of injustice.
Despite the stylistic distinction between the works, all of the sketches are united by the will to make the viewers actively take into consideration the function censorship is enjoying in trendy Britain. Additionally, it succeeds at making a voice of resistance that invitations us to overtly query the establishments which might be presupposed to serve our pursuits. Cutting the Tightrope is a real theatre of resistance, as a result of it demonstrates that a number of dialogues and opinions can (and may) exist collectively. It appears like an enormous center finger to the artwork establishments at present hiding behind blanket statements.
Censorship is a risk to the humanities, and the present invitations us to see how the general public’s complacency is equally threatening. As the character Hind Rajab says: “My story will have a life, even if you don’t allow it on your stage.”
Cutting the Tightrope ran by way of 18 May.
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