Echoes of Empire – Courtyard Theatre

When it comes to post-colonial mood music, Britain is in a league of its own. The symphonic sound of English Empire is often ugly tunes, tone-deaf lyrics and long broken instruments. Fellow colonial contenders such as the Dutch, Spanish or Portuguese tend to be guiltily mute about their marauding past or attempt to address their empirical history with glacial pace and limited scope. The United Kingdom can boast the biggest Empire, and possibly, the most monstrous legacy. British Empire has a habit of being viewed with a gobby pride which shouts down evidence of the brutal costs for former and current colonies. Britain continues to swerve a hard reckoning and often seeks to silence nuanced perspectives of Empire and many of the basic, but awkward facts.

If the education system, media and Government fail to present the story of Empire with objective truth, then art has a duty to do the shouting, thinking and teaching. Any play, film or artwork that prompts chat, or presents fresh angles on this contentious topic have to be commended. It’s an exciting prospect to witness new writing that tackles the rich and thorny topic of colonisation. Echoes of Empire by Vkinn Vats had a degree of success on this front. It led to lively and lengthy discussion, but the production was less than winning in its actual creative delivery.

Vkinn Vats is the author of Echoes of Empire and co-founder of Shooting Star Studios which produced the play. Vats also plays Aarav, the romantic lead character of Indian heritage, who’s dating Eleanor (Estelle Warner), a white middle class woman, fresh from Oxford Uni. The play opens with the pair prepping for a dinner party, while they reflect on their courtship and bicker over the historic details of their romance. The tensions of culture clashes are touched on, but often felt in service to exposition, rather than the realistic chat of young Londoners.

The semi symbolic dialogue between the characters wasn’t complimented by the creeping distraction caused by a huge sheath of white sheer material that was inexplicably draped over this couple’s sofa and coffee table. It slid about with relentless and mischievous enthusiasm. This white fabric ‘throw’ had the vibes of a cheap net curtain. While it refused to grip or rest on the sofa, it stuck to the actors like a needy nylon ghost. Watching the performers wrestle with the material as it slipped off the furnishings was bad enough, but on occasion, it became knotted around their ankles. Not only was this set design a health and safety nightmare, but it also made the play quite stressful to watch. Worse still, it appeared to have no justification on either aesthetic or figurative fronts.

The core action of Echoes of Empire is a dinner party that spins out of control. It’s a rich narrative arc for drama, but staging booze-fuelled chaos requires military levels of precision and timing. The slippy, but magnetic white material hampered any efforts at functional rhythm, and at times, became the main character. Never Mind the Empire, Here’s the Slippy Cloth. Attempting to outshine the attention seeking fabric were Neetika Knight (Ama) and Sarah Sinizer-Hopkins (Sierra) who played the couple’s close friends and provocative house guests.

Sierra, the character played by Sinizer-Hopkins is a white American who chips in with apparently spicy quips as the night unravels. At one point, she declares quite solemnly, “Congrats! You all colonised each other.”

This seemed like oddly cuss-free banter for a bunch of twenty-somethings lashed on wine, but perhaps I move in the wrong circles. It also seems somewhat unlikely that a clique of clued-up young Brits would take lectures on empire from a judgemental American. It was frustrating that the Sierra character wasn’t challenged. The USA’s slavery legacy and recent moves in the Middle East became an annoying but growing herd of Elephants in the Room. This blind spot felt unreal, and a missed opportunity. Neetika Knight (Ama) has undeniable stage presence and Vkinn Vats is a passionate and articulate creative, but at this stage, Echoes of Empire lacks the taut discipline required to punch with effective accuracy.

Echoes of Empire is at The Courthouse until 6 Aug

Courtyard Theatre | Musical Events

Reviewer: Stewart Who?

Reviewed: 3rd August 2024
North West End UK Rating: