“She Is A Place Called Home” is a beautiful piece by exciting new playwright Esohe Uwadiae which at it’s core is a play about sisters and their bond.
The play focuses on two sisters after they discover their dad is getting a second wife, someone who is already pregnant to give him the son he desperately wants. The sisters discuss their different feelings about the situation and think about what it could mean for futures. Their struggles change and expand through the production and we slowly learn more about each of them as the play develops and the consequences surround them.
Through the hour the play explores the power disparities within the family and the way the women in the situation are impacted, controlled and ultimately become victims. The situation is looked at through the cultural lens of what is acceptable in Nigerian society, grappling with what that means for the individuals involved and contrasted with the western society they live in.
The sisters both give assured performances and the audience can feel the bond between them. The dialogue and direction successfully moves between sisterly love and full on arguments, a realistic portrayal of sisters living together. It’s well written with a lot of thought having gone into the development of this relationship. Through the show you become more engrossed in their stories. They individually break the fourth wall to tell you more about themselves and their sister, making you their confidant.
The direction makes great use of the space and is able to seamlessly move between scenes. This is made the more impressive as this is one of the more difficult spaces in the Vaults. The one problem it had was with the sound. The space seemed to soak up the sound which combined with the trains did make it difficult to catch everything at times which unfortunately detracted from some key moments.
The writer said “Growing up, I heard and saw many cases of Nigerian men, both in Nigeria and the Western World, getting second wives without speaking to their families first. I wanted to tell a story that explored what that decision meant for the family and how that could take to breaking point existing problems within the home. I also wanted to highlight reasons why women may stay in those situations and how that influences the future decisions of adults who are the product of such environments.” She can be proud of having done that and this show deserves a wide audience. We give this 4 stars. It's on until March 8th 2020 and you can buy tickets here: https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/
Being developed as part of the Vault Festival New Writer’s programme this is great example of what can happen when talented people are given the opportunities they need to shine. This is a great debut play bringing much needed diversity to the theatre. She is definitely one to watch going forward.
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