Balisong – Traverse Theatre
Short but perfectly formed, Balisong occasionally comes perilously close to feeling like a public-information film about the dangers of knives. But perhaps that is hardly surprising. Jennifer Adam's play was originally commissioned by No Knives Better Lives, produced with Fast Forward and developed in consultation with young people. It was subsequently recommissioned twice and, between 2017 and 2019, toured schools in every local authority in Scotland.
And yet, sitting in the Traverse, I can't help being affected by it. Isn't that, after all, one of the points of theatre? To write something with purpose, with an allegory; something that seeks not merely to entertain but perhaps to make a difference?
Its timing is particularly poignant. A few miles away in Leith stands t...