Review: LINES, Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse (Sheffield Theatres)

Smart Banda

In Lines, a co-production between Sheffield Theatres, Roots Mbili and Remote Theater Project, John Rwothomack and Fidaa Zidan tell the audience about their findings after exploring the prison systems at five different points in their respective nation’s histories. Rwothomack was born in Uganda and Zidan is from Palestine. Whilst they do give a run down of key moments in both nations’ histories, it can be challenging to keep up with exactly the political context of the different scenes with little prior knowledge of the political history of either country. Regardless, there are still moments of great drama throughout to be enjoyed.

The play has been written by Rwothomack, Zidan, Alexandra Aron and Junaid Sarieddeen, with additional writing from Asiimwe Deborah Kawe. Despite a lot of writing talent being involved in the show, a cohesive show has been created with a clear sense of voice. The team do a great job at finding a balance between highlighting injustice in the world whilst also bringing out moments for light humour in what could otherwise be a very emotionally heavy show.

Kevin Jenkins’ set design is perfectly adaptable, easily creating lots of different locations and types of prison cell. Lee Affen’s sound design, and the music used throughout the show, does a great job at heightening the emotions of the scenes. Tal Yarden’s projection design helps to add context to the scenes of different prisons over the decades, but it could have been useful to have more details from the timeline constructed at the start of the show on display as a reminder of where and when we are, and what’s happening in the wider nation.

Robia Milliner’s movement direction is very effective in emphasising the point that despite Rwothomack and Zidan growing up different nations, their stories are more alike than you might think.

As performers, Rwothomack and Zidan are both very strong. They have a tremendous chemistry and rapport which you can tell exists both on and off stage. The moments of them being ‘themselves’ are very enjoyable and provide a needed breather from the emotionally intense scenes, or vignettes, showing different prison systems. Zidan’s dry sense of humour is flawless, getting plenty of laughs, and she also demonstrates a strong singing ability. Rwothomack is instantly likeable in the different versions of himself that he plays, leading the audience to instantly root for him.

Lines is very much not a traditional play and serves as a good initial exploration of the justice systems of Uganda, Palestine and the UK. The moments of ‘real’ banter are great fun and the moments of acting are moving and challenging. Hopefully in the future work the team will be able to explore some of these moments in history in more depth, educating audiences about the political history of nations that we don’t get taught about in schools.

*** Three Stars

Reviewed by Jacob Bush

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