Skip to main content

King Troll (The Fawn) review – this nerve-jangling thriller never lets up

New Diorama theatre, London
Sisters navigating a harsh immigration process conjure up an unnerving helper in Sonali Bhattacharyya’s drama

Sonali Bhattacharyya’s shivery new play begins with a jolt of panic. Pre-show waltz music cuts out; lightning flares, then leaves us in darkness. Nerves jangle from the first moment, and never get a chance to calm during this cracking show that nudges activist drama into atavistic horror.

On an unnamed island not so different to our own, sisters Nikita and Riya navigate a stern immigration process. They’re of migrant heritage (Kali theatre, the co-producers, presents work by South Asian women, though no background is specified in the play), and they needle each other as only sisters can.

Nikita (Zainab Hasan, fervent and troubled) works with young migrants, but Riya’s own resident status is uncertain. They seek help from Ayesha Dharker’s glitteringly malign auntie, who proffers sickly endearments (“my beautiful little orphans”) and murky magic. Dreading disaster, Riya (Safiyya Ingar, always two steps from a sulk) casts a spell and creates a homuncular fawn to dote upon her.

At New Diorama, London, until 2 November

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Ctzy8Fd
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Guardian view on Covid-19, five years on: lessons still to be learned | Editorial

Though many would rather forget the pandemic, we are living with its consequences. Are we any better prepared for the next one? “When asked what was the biggest disaster of the twentieth century, almost nobody answers the Spanish flu,” notes Laura Spinney in her book Pale Rider, of an event that killed as many as one in 20 of the global population. “There is no cenotaph, no monument in London, Moscow or Washington DC.” Most of us will better understand that absence after Covid-19 , which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization five years ago this week. Some cannot put those events behind them: most obviously, many of those bereaved by the 7 million deaths worldwide (not including those indirectly caused by the pandemic ), and the significant numbers still living with long Covid . Others want to forget the loss of loved ones, the months of isolation and the costs to businesses, families and mental health. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? I...
Post a Comment
Read more