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The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Fiona Mountford's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Lucy Kerbel.
Cast: Company Of Angels
Description: Frank Perry's translation of Jonas Hassen Khemiri's comedy about what it means to be a young Arab in contemporary Europe. Presented by Company Of Angels. Contains strong language.
Trains: Tube: Tottenham Court Road 
, Tube / Bus: 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 23, 25, 38, 55, 73, 98, 176 
Phone: 0207478 0100
Website: www.sohotheatre.com
Extra info: Pub, Food
Brave try: Viss Elliot Safavi and Chris Nayal do their best with a clunking concept
Wisdom, in Sweden this bewildering muddle of a drama played for two sell-out seasons at the Stockholm Stadsteatern: there’s certainly no accounting for national taste. Whatever its Swedish merits, Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s debut piece has got lost in Frank Perry’s translation and now attracts an unfortunate salvo of double-barrelled adjectives: heavy-handed, long-winded and one-note.
When, near the start, a couple of boisterous young “audience members” (Gregg Chillin and Chris Nayak) interrupt a tedious theatrical costume drama about the buccaneering moor Abulkasem, we’re with our Swedish friends in the approbation stakes. This, we think, will be amusing and mould-breaking and play interestingly with the dramatic form. It doesn’t. Instead, Khemiri embarks on a peculiar allegory, as the name Abulkasem is kicked back and forth, appropriated by some characters and discussed in depth. Is Abulkasem a mythic hero or a bogeyman? After a chunk of this oblique examination, do any of us care?
The vague theme of these loosely connected episodes, none of which are developed enough to be gripping, is of immigration into Europe. Khemiri worries, in a frustratingly wafty way, at the idea of culture and origins, and of how we tend to define ourselves in relation to and, often, in opposition to a common cause. “Abulkasem”, we realise, could easily be replaced by “Muslim”, a similarly baggage-laden word for many in Europe.
It’s a clever enough idea in theory, but Khemiri isn’t a sufficiently strong writer to make this sing dramatically, which leaves director Lucy Kerbel and her four-strong cast with little they can do. Viss Elliott Safavi is nicely animated as a young student who refuses to be chatted up in a bar but as clunking concept continually triumphs over character, it’s a thankless task.
Until 28 March (020 7478 0100, www.sohotheatre.com).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
What a contradiction/mis-understatement to declare that the play got lost in the translation & then to conclude Khemiri isn't a sufficiently strong writer. What do you mean exactly?
If the context is lost, the translater has delivered bad work. Isn't it?
Or is the Swedish audience as underdeveloped as you assume?
Have you anyway seen the Swedish version of the play or read one of Khemiri's books? It's hardly to imagine.
Why then to deliver such and unfounded conclusion???
- Frances, Riemst Belgium
