Adebayo Bolaji’s Dialektikon is a political feast, based on speeches from the ‘Dialectics of Liberation’ meeting, which took place at the Camden Roundhouse in 1967, written by Jacky Ivimy Dialektikon presents you with an A-Z of the world’s problems.
Bolaji’s play is set in an African village, where Mary Nyambura’s Miranda’s grandmother dies, heartbroken Miranda finds herself in a nightmarish world lorded by the evil Moloch. Lost she is given direction by encounters with some great figures from the past, philosophers, campaigners, artists and scientists who try to guide her out of her nightmare, Ivimy uses these figures to illustrate the A-Z of all that is wrong with angry earth from war, global warming, starvation, domestic violence, mental illness and how those with the condition are treated to racism. Benjamin Victor’s Servant to the Moloch skillfully weaves in and out of different shades of evil and slimy, a bald slippery creature, wearing full make-up, trying to sway the wide-eyed Miranda. Sabina Cameron’s Ayida Wedo, is the spirit that gently guides Miranda away from being corrupted by the ills of the world presented to her through bribery and gifts from Servant.
Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther King, poet Allen Ginsberg and Ronald Laing are among those whose “wisdom” illustrates this play which uses African story-telling and puppetry, African tribal dance, fabric and loads of it are used creatively, we see fire and wind and the spirit world. There is a lot for the visual senses to engage with and you see the influences coming from a director who is also a painter. Something a little different on the London stage once you engage with the dream sequence you realise you are watching a little bit of magic. CAST: Mary Nyambura, Sabina Cameron, Benjamin Victor, Robert Lightfoot, Russell Anthony, Rhys Anderson, Minal Patel, Adrian Decosta.
Venue Park90 Theatre Finsbury Park N4 until December 29, 2018. BOOK HERE
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