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Saphira – 2.5 Stars

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Saphira

Saphira

Etcetera Theatre

Reviewed – 31st May 2018

★★½

“a classic love and betrayal theme, but it falls short in the telling and in the detail”

 

A man lies unconscious. As he comes to, he can hear distant marimba music. He’s the only survivor of a plane crash somewhere in Africa. Apart from a slight wound (and his immaculate white shirt being unbuttoned) our ‘reputable businessman’ is unharmed. Putting this apparent miracle behind him, he falls in love with a local girl, Saphira. Their courtship is celebrated in song, as Saphira teaches him a lullaby that her grandmother used to sing her. Abruptly, however, overtaken by a concern that his absence may benefit his rivals, he decides to head back to sit at a desk and make deals. Saphira vows to find him and eat his heart (because, you know, she’s from Africa). She cleverly becomes his secretary without him realising, from which position she attempts to execute her deadly plan.

‘Saphira: A Deadly Beauty’, staged at the Etcetera Theatre in Camden, is a deceptive title as it’s Zack, her lover from above, that dominates the action. ‘A male fantasy’ might better describe the story, as surviving an air crash unscathed, wooing an exotic beauty before casting her aside to run a successful business is a dubious plot straight from the colonial adventures of ‘Tintin’.

As writer, director and playing the role of Zack, Stavros Symeonidis has nowhere to hide and this is a brave performance on all fronts. He commands the stage with a limited emotional range, measurable only in decibels, while Saphira is played sweetly by Evridiki Yakubu without much vocal projection, appearing more comfortable with the dancing and singing requirements.

The forty five minutes run time is well-structured, but the preposterous storyline is denied a lifeline by the two-dimensional writing. Zack announces that he is in love, he is sad, he feels conflicted, he wants to sleep with her, he wants to save his business. She reciprocates in the same style, inevitably and the singing brings little relief. It’s totally plausible that a reputable businessman/crash survivor would be tone deaf when called upon to sing, but it didn’t make it any easier to listen to.

The one true respite is the music and dance of Otto Gumaelius, a gifted performer who gives the show a beating heart it hardly deserves. Elsewhere, the production is robust, with unfussy lighting and sound while wardrobe choices are simple, to the point of simplistic.

Etcetera Theatre is a Camden institution and a vital try-out space for writers, performers, comedians and their ideas. As Stavros Symeonidis stretches his wings here he sketches out an imaginative tale with a classic love and betrayal theme, but it falls short in the telling and in the detail.

 

Reviewed by Dominic Gettins

 


Saphira

Etcetera Theatre

 

Related
Previously reviewed at this venue
Hello Georgie, Goodbye Best | ★★ | April 2018
Ophelia | ★★★ | May 2018

 

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Ophelia – 3 Stars

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Ophelia

Ophelia

Etcetera Theatre

Reviewed – 3rd May 2018

★★★

“not just a relevant topical play, it convinces with its intimacy, incisiveness and suspense”

 

What do you do when you realise that your inner demons are taking over your life, but you are embarrassed to reach out for help because others might need it more? What do you do when you don’t get any help because you are still “functioning”? Ophelia problematises the stigma around mental health issues through the stories of three different people, connected through Ophelia and the mental illnesses they suffer.

Looking at the stage from above in a confined, black room feels like glancing at the inside of the characters, seeing the battle inside them raging while they are completely alone in this dark space. The acting is powerful, the monologues moving from intimate confessions to brutal anger within seconds. Particularly, Comfort Fabian manages to create an intimate atmosphere filled with revelations that are both honest and difficult. Director Kieran Rogers plays with the unintentional voyeurism of watching someone relating their secret inner struggles by symbolically letting one of the characters undress as she is shedding all pretence and attempts of fulfilling the expectations of her surroundings.

Although each character has a unique background and they all highlight different aspects of mental illness, there are themes that occur again and again: loneliness, shame, fear and guilt. All of these are reasons for the characters not to reach out for help. It is the insistence of functioning in our society and the stigmatisation of illness that creates a dilemma for them, preventing them from getting the help they need.

Despite this powerful message and the many important issues the play addresses, it has lengths at times and the ending is rather abrupt. After having seen the agonies those three people suffer, it would have been good to see some solutions, but Ophelia leaves the audience with more questions than answers. Personifying mental illness as Ophelia and presenting it like a relationship contributes to the understanding of the struggles of those affected but it soon becomes rather distracting with questions about Ophelia overshadowing the actual topic.

Nevertheless, the play contributes to the understanding of mental illness, showing vividly that it is not just about pulling yourself together, that it goes much deeper than some people might think, and that those affected desperately need help. By criticising the stigmatisation of mental health, it demonstrates that this is a problem that is not yet taken seriously enough in the public debate. Ophelia, however, is not just a relevant topical play, it convinces with its intimacy, incisiveness and suspense.

 

Reviewed by Laura Thorn

 

Ophelia

Etcetera Theatre until 20th May

 

 

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