The Fall
28 September 2017
4 Stars
Fresh from its Fringe First Edinburgh win and cast award from The Stage for a limited run, you will need to book quickly to catch this exuberant and thought provoking production by Baxter Theatre Centre from the University of Cape Town. The Fall was written collaboratively by the original cast as a reaction to South African student riots in 2015 and 2016. First the student led movement sought to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes, symbol of colonialism and Western oppression that dominated the campus of the University of Cape Town. After #RhodesMustFall, further student led movements emerged, fighting for gender, sexual and race equality, demonstrating that struggles rarely, if ever, end.
Every molecule of the space of the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs is packed with the energy, enthusiasm, passion and commitment of the seven strong ensemble. The singing alone is powerful and uplifting, it feels that there are more than seven people on stage, and the movement is exciting and captures perfectly that feeling of protest. The cast are terrific, and it seems churlish to single out individuals. But in passionate debates surrounding sexuality, Cleo Raatus and Ameera Conrad are particularly strong in their fierce arguments for sexual identity and equality. And here the piece really scores, connecting with concerns from young people throughout the world, especially the rise of tuition fees and the struggle of working class and poor young people to advance, ever present, the battle against deeply entrenched patriarchy.
As the play was created by participants in the original struggle, there are occasions when the piece feels a little too didactic, and the projections of footage of the actual protests, (and police reactions), are lost when beamed against a set that looks like a striped floor, it’s difficult to make out fully what is taking place. But there is no doubt that the play really connected with its audience, and deserved the standing ovation it received.
THE FALL TICKETS
Paul is a playwright, director, actor, academic, (he has a PhD from the University of East Anglia), teacher and theatre reviewer! His plays include Living with Luke, (UK tour 2016), Play Something, (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/Drayton Arms Theatre, London 2018), , (2019), and now The Miner’s Crow, which won the inaugural Artist’s Pick of the Fringe Award at the first ever Colchester Fringe Festival 2021. In lockdown 2020 he created the audio series Isolation Alan, available on Youtube, and performed online in the Voice Box Festival. He is the founder member of Stage Write, a Colchester based theatre company, and his acting roles include Rupert in How We Love by Annette Brook, first performed at the Vaults Festival 2020 and revived at the Arcola and at Theatre Peckham in 2021. Follow: @stagewrite_
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