UPROOTED
New Diorama Theatre
★★★★
“The cast work brilliantly as a collective with vigour, passion and conviction to tell this important story”
‘Uprooted’ is a piece of eco-feminist, political theatre devised by the multi-award-winning Ephemeral Ensemble. Directed by its co-founder – Brazilian theatre maker and director Ramon Ayres, Ephemeral Ensemble’s last show ‘Rewind’ was one of The Guardian’s 10 best theatre shows of 2024. Rest assured, ‘Uprooted’ does not disappoint; it is an emotionally charged and highly visceral, immersive piece of physical theatre with an urgent ecological and political message.
Set in Latin America, ‘Uprooted’ focuses on local and indigenous communities that have been ransacked by extractionist companies. It gives a voice to the powerful women who attempt to defend their native homeland and exposes the devastating human and ecological consequences of late-stage capitalism and the global corporations that are responsible for ecological rape. ‘Uprooted’ does not hold back; the relationship between ecological rape and sexual violence against women is harrowingly depicted when one of the women is forcibly taken by masked invaders and violated by the huge, writhing silver chute they carry and manoeuvre.
Physical theatre is a hallmark of this piece. The cast – Eygló Belafonte, Josephine Tremelling, Louise Wilcox and Vanessa Guevara Flores – work brilliantly as a collective with vigour, passion and conviction to tell this important story. Alex Paton, live instrumentalist, is also the master of this original musical composition; he expertly transports us to the magical beauty of the rainforest but equally, through harsh and discordant sound, into darker territory during scenes of ecological violation and disaster. The live music is a real highlight of the show.
Lighting designer, Josephine Tremelling, and the set designer (who is not explicitly named in the available credits) equally make a massive contribution to the immersive theatricality of the piece – whether it be their miniature homes that glow in significant bright colours, the luminous jungle creatures or the huge shadows cast from the constantly moving lighting poles bedecked with chains which are used to evoke a forest.
Ramon Ayres, the director, has worked tirelessly with the actors to attain a masterful level of physical theatre in each scene. The way that the actors transform object after object into something completely different is a theatrical wonder to behold: a dumpster becomes a house, sheer fabric is used to represent a river, and a giant chute is used to represent the forces of colonialism, capitalism and patriarchy. However, there were some earlier scenes that did not quite hit the mark. They presented the audience with powerful stage images, but I felt the nuanced dynamics that underpinned them could have been dramatically explored further.
The decision to break the fourth wall and engage the audience more directly is a brave one but makes for a more emotionally powerful audience experience – particularly towards the end. As I left the theatre, I was reminded of the visionary, left-wing Brazilian theatre director and dramatist, Augusto Boal, perhaps best knows as the author of the 1974 classic ‘Theatre of the Oppressed.’ As the audience moves from being mere spectators of the unfolding action and towards the status of ‘spect-actor’, the message could not be clearer: this is not just a story pertinent to those living under oppressive conditions in Latin America. We are all interconnected; the choices we make either align us with the oppressed or our oppressors.
UPROOTED
New Diorama Theatre
Reviewed on 30th September 2025
by Tim Graves
Photography by Alex Brenner
Previously reviewed at this venue:
THE GLORIOUS FRENCH REVOLUTION | ★★★★ | November 2024
KING TROLL (THE FAWN) | ★★★★★ | October 2024
BRENDA’S GOT A BABY | ★★★ | November 2023
AFTER THE ACT | ★★★★★ | March 2023
PROJECT DICTATOR | ★★½ | April 2022
