King Troll (The Fawn) – New Diorama Theatre
A “dark and otherworldly thriller” by Sonali Bhattacharyya, King Troll was a finalist for the 2023 Women’s Prize for Playwriting, and now arrives on the London fringe in a production by Milli Bhatia.
The topic is the experience of migrants within the UK, and the plot relies on a mystical, magic realism device, the fawn of the title. At first the story appears straightforward, as South Asian sisters Nikita (coolly efficient Zainab Hasan) and Riya (vulnerable Safiyya Ingar) deal with the latter’s application to stay in the country.
Photo: Helen Murray
When they decide to phone the friend of their late mother, a delightfully eccentric Shashi (Ayesha Dharker), a lifeline and possible sponsor appears to protect Riya, but at what cost? The bold physicality of Dominic Holmes’s Fawn adds ...
