How Not To Drown – Traverse Theatre

This might not be the best production one sees this calendar year but it’s a shining example of why theatre itself, companies like ThickSkin and venues like The Traverse are so important. Having said that, the village and/or town halls of middle England might benefit from a tour, the front five rows reserved for Daily Mail readers. It’d be nice to think this ninety minutes would prove more nourishing than the three-word-slogan diet they’ve been addicted to for the last seven years. For amongst the complexities of what constitutes home or how essential the family is, the key message here is that conditions and circumstances exist in some countries of which plenty have no concept. It explains, at the very end, why Dritan’s father took the shocking decision to send his 11-year-old son on a harrowing journey across Europe to what turn out to be the more confusing, frustrating and xenophobic corners of a country with a chronically over-stretched care and immigration system; the alternative was to stay in Kosovo where the possibility of death loomed on a daily basis.

A potent fact about this play is that the central character, Dritan Kastrati, is right there in front of us, performing the play he co-wrote – directly from his own experience – with Nicola McCartney. On the surface it’s about two journeys, the first from war-torn Kosovo, the second his zig-zagging from foster parent to foster parent, shuttling between schools, but there is a third voyage; his psychological journey from ‘relentless’ fighter to writer/performer, assisted along the way by a positive Drama teacher.

Before we take our seats there’s the arresting sight of a black raft, bleakly lit, tilting at an angle representing an unstable world. A rumbling soundtrack (Alexandra Faye Braithwaite) adds to the foreboding atmosphere and then we’re off, all five actors slickly switching between characters, a credit to the players themselves (Ajjaz Awad, Esme Bayley, Daniel Cahill and Samuel Reuben), a cleverly-written script and some tight direction (Neil Bettles). It could have been confusing, but wasn’t. However, the four-day journey from Kosovo to England was portrayed, mainly due to Dritan’s youthful chutzpah, as humorously troublesome, rather than life-threatening. Throughout, we felt frustration rather than desperation and the element of jeopardy only lurked in the background. One wouldn’t have complained had more of the horror and terror been conveyed front and centre. It might propel a little more *‘Besa’ within those in charge of our country in 2023.

*Look it up, and while you’re there, take the time to garner at least a loose appreciation of Albanian history.

Reviewer: Roger Jacobs

Reviewed: 29th March 2023

North West End UK Rating: ★★★