MEMORY AND THE MOBILE PHONE

I Call My Brothers The Gate Theatre Notting Hill Gate 10 November – 03 December


What happens when fear and paranoia become as suffocating and pervasive as hunger or pain? This is the theme of the Gate’s new production, I Call My Brothers by Jonas Hassen Khemiri. In the wake of a terrorist attack in Central London anyone of Arabic, Middle Eastern or Pakistani appearance both feel and become suspect. For highly secular and western oriented individuals like Amor, -sharply and empathetically played by Richard Sumitro, - the central character of the play, this can be particularly bewildering, alienating and a deeply oppressive experience.
The stark minimalist set accentuates this sense of a world of alienation and disconnect. This is further underlined by the fact that, as in contemporary life, so much of the dialogue is largely conducted, - disconnected, broken up, at cross purposes, - on mobile phone.
Drunk coming home from a dance Amor is just another late-night reveller, or so he assumes, but there has been an explosion, a terrorist attack, and a description has been circulated. Amor has now become a suspect.

What to cling to in a world divorced from real community? We fall back on memory and the ubiquitous mobile phone. Which is what Amor does. His past struggling to remain coherent in the face of a chaotic threatening present.
His cousin, the daunting Ahlem, (Lanna Joffrey), thinks she has a better answer in a feel-good new age philosophy. This peppers her conversation with an unconvinced Amor. Shavi, (Jonas Khan), his friend whom ‘he loves like a brother,’ on the other hand wraps himself in his new born baby, in family and friendship. It is Shavi whose calls to alert him are ignored by Amor, and Shavi who is there for him when Amor needs him.
Lanna Joffrey
There are several sub plots, some of which work better than others. Though all the time the play crackles with wit and dark humour, of which Amor being tracked by a Met surveillance team stands out, a mix of suspicion, comedy and menace. 
I Call My Brothers is a gripping and stimulating play that examines dark side of community politics, the fear and oppressive anxiety that underlies being part of a ‘suspect’ community.
Stand out performances by Lanna Joffrey and Richard Sumitro with Jonas Khan and Nadia Albina adding both passion and humour to the performance.

I Call My Brothers is on at the Gate Theatre from 10 November – 03 December Box office: 020 7229 0706



Popular posts from this blog

NESRINE MALIK AND THE UNSUNG VIRTUES OF HYPOCRISY

Image
As I write this a 27 year old woman, Mariam Ibrahim, has just had a baby in a Sudanese prison, ‘the condition of the mother and baby is not known as Ibrahim's lawyer and her husband, a US citizen, had been denied access to her. Omdurman women's prison has a basic clinic, where the child is thought to have been born. Ibrahim has been shackled since being imprisoned.’ [1]   Mariam also has an 18 month old child who is also being held in prison with her. The ‘crime’ for which she is imprisoned is apostasy, for which she has received the death sentence. She has also been sentenced to 100 lashes, for the additional crime of having sex with her Christian husband. Although she has been a lifelong Christian her father was a Muslim, Sudanese sharia law forbids women to marry outside the Muslim faith, men needless to say can do as they please in these matters. Mariam Ibrahim and her husband.  Nineteen countries punish their citizens for apostasy, and in 12 of those countries
Read more

INTERVIEW WITH TOM VAGUE

Image
Tom Vague At the top end of All Saints Road there is a refuge, an enclave in which a local Bohemian culture retains a foothold, this is the Book & kitchen , a café/bookshop with adjoining terrace. Here the bustle of the nearby market gives way to conversation, conversation in the presence of images of the recent, and not so recent, past. The past of an area that has contributed so much to the life and culture of the city. I was there to meet local historian Mr Tom Vague a man intimately familiar with so much of this history. What Tom doesn’t know about the recent history of the area probably is not worth knowing. With Tom’s energy and effort Colville Community Forum, supported by City Living Local Life, recently held a gathering at The Book and Kitchen to celebrate this rich history. February 16 6-9 Pm, with Film Screening and Readings Exhibition February 16-26 2016. Featuring 30 Classic Westway Photographs and Posters. This represents one of a number of initiatives of t
Read more

LONDON BELONGS TO ME PART ONE

Image
. I. I have lived in London now just over thirty years, having moved here on 4 th July 1983 . I don’t know how long you normally have to wait to claim squatter’s rights but thirty years seems a good enough period to me. The glory of London is its parks and open spaces, you are rarely ever far away from a London park, common or heath. I am within fifteen minutes walk of Kensington Gardens or Holland Park , much closer to several smaller areas with grass and flowers and benches on which to sit, all maintained by Kensington and Chelsea council who also still believe in the value of trees. Those who would see what they call ‘the state’ shrink rarely mention such items in their calculations. What does it cost to maintain a tree? Too much by far for the likes of those right wing think tanks whom and I fear the phrase is soon likely to break under the strain under which it is now being placed, know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Holland Park is one of t
Read more