Be Good Revolutionaries

Synopsis

"We wait, suspended, like good revolutionaries, for you to return. You're in all that we do... Our revolution should be against you!" In the ramshackle, hideaway house of a rebel leader's family, we enter a world of memories, rituals and secrets. Daddy has long since gone, lost in the jungle, on a dangerous mission. His wife and daughters crave his return, and as time passes, their waiting-games take a sinister twist. You are invited to share in an intimate family ceremony; a night offering up surprising truths and powerful secrets.

Our Review:

Tadhg Caffrey - 8 June 2012

“The spirits of the dead are always with us.” This mysterious line opens Oval House's Be Good Revolutionaries, the second of their Outlaws series. Or rather, it is my personal opening to the play, one of many scrawled on pieces of paper handed to audience members as they pass through a dark, smoke-filled entrance tunnel. A shaman-like figure (Rebecca Thorn) sits playing a wooden flute, periodically stopping to bestow these snippets. This sets a dark and ominous tone for Dirty Market's story of a family riven by revolution in Cuba.

The corridor opens out to a large set, covered in mulch and surrounded by writhing sheets suspended on clothes lines. A moving lump lies in the middle of the floor and eerie lighting unsettles the viewer from the off. One side of this forest scene opens onto the house of Anna (Juliet Prague) and her three children, Emilia (Laura O'Toole), Red (Francesca Dale) and Curly (Alex Britton). This part of the set (all designed by [...

Read more of the review

Latest User Review

BruceP - 9 June 2012:

I agree - this is an excellent piece, with some of the most compelling and believable stage performances I've seen for a long time...

Read more and add your own review

Related Whatsonstage.com Articles

The story behind Ovalhouse's Be Good Revolutionaries More»