Ballad of the Burning Star (Salford)

Theatre Ad Infinitum have gone to some trouble to set the mood for their new production Ballad of the Burning Star. Tables have replaced the seats in the Lowry’s Quays Theatre to give a cabaret atmosphere and a sense of how it feels to live in constant danger comes from safety announcements advising how to react should someone attempt to detonate a bomb.

Onstage Drag Queen Star (Nir Paldi who also wrote and directed) uses the story of the boy Israel (also played by Paldi) and his family to tell of the suffering of the Jewish race over centuries, the development of the Israeli state and current atrocities. But Star’s female backing group, The Starlets, begin to object to his bullying and reluctance to allow the emotional impact of the various stories to be explored in depth. The impression is forming that Star has guilt of his own to resolve.

Ballad of the Burning Star is so ambitious that the saga could only be summarised by filtering it through the perception of an individual. This fractured, and at times confusing approach, gives the audience a sense of the chaotic lifestyle of people who have to constantly adjust to conflict and even direct attacks. It also gives Paldi the rare chance to be both sympathetic to, and critical of, his chosen subject. Prejudice about Palestinians is shown to be ridiculous by being expressed by a group of ill-informed children. When The Starlets set-off on a lengthy recitation of the many offences committed against Jews over centuries Star sighs and advises the audience this would be a good point to see if the bar is still open.

Adam Pleeth’s musical score, performed live by Pete Aves aka Camp David, sets a backing for the stories. Although the score reflects Jewish traditional music it is characterised by a driving percussive beat which adds to the mood of apprehension and rushing towards conflict. Orian Micheali’s choreography is tightly controlled. The Starlets perform hunched over with arms close to the chest and legs pumping like a spring constantly being wound tighter but never achieving release. Without the high kicks and leaps that usually feature in dance the effect is almost claustrophobic – perfectly suggesting a family and a race hemmed in by hostile forces.

The impudent idea of telling a complex and controversial storyline in the form of a drag act works surprisingly well. The density of the material might occasionally overwhelm the audience (the importance of one assassination escaped me) but overall the story is told in a compelling and original manner. The subtlety of Nir Paldi’s storytelling becomes apparent in the conclusion that makes clear the significance of the apparently leisurely opening in a very satisfying manner.

Ballad of the Burning Star is at the Lowry until 12 February.

– Dave Cunningham