Review by Beth Bowden
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Look - we’ve all had that nightmare - the one where you’re onstage and you don’t know your lines and the audience is looking expectantly at you (ok maybe that's just me?)... But ECHO (Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen) at the Royal Court takes that idea and runs with it.
A new performer takes to the stage every night in this production, and like the audience, has no idea what is about to unfold. There’s a stellar line up of stars who are set to read each night - and on press night it’s Adrian Lester. Written by Nassim Soleimanpour and directed by Omar Elerian, ECHO takes us on an intimate journey through place, time and space - with Nassim, Adrian, and the stars as our tour guides.
It’s hard to know what to say about ECHO, without spoiling how and why the story is told.
The narrative is shaped by Nassim's experience of migration. We travel with him, and Adrian across seasons, across the world to Berlin and Iran, and from the past, to galaxies and back to the present. We never quite know where we are, or where we might go next…It is tapestry shaped by absence - by censorship, by borders and places the writer cannot go, might not be able to go back to and places that only exist in memories. We learn about Nassim, his family, his life and about his identity as a writer - and it’s a window into the creator of stories, and the process of writing that we never usually get. Built on warmth, his warmth, and his connection to us as the audience - it is a gift. It is a profound gift for him to share his life story with us in such an intimate way.
I also love a cold read. I always think it’s pretty glorious when we challenge traditional spectatorship and convention. We get to experience the story happen with - and to - the actor. Every twist, turn, every memory and plot point, can feel like a clever trick or leave us sitting uncomfortably in the unknown. There are points when I genuinely feel excited by the magic of it - actual live storytelling, and I muse that it’s a bit like a nostalgic bedtime story being read by Adrian Lester.
It is experimental, and exciting, and I want to go back and watch it again. Both intellectually and creatively, I want to know how ECHO lands on a different night with a different actor, and a new audience. It is built on us, the audience, connecting to the story and the writer - and it is unique to the actor and their connection to the material, remade anew each night.
It is this theatrical device that makes ECHO a big risk, not least because the majority of the play rests on the shoulders of an unrehearsed actor, their vulnerability and their improvised responses. The burden is shared by the very clever, stunning and slick tech which uses live feeds, sound (Anna Clock), recorded video and projection to tell the story and conjure up place & space. Occasionally, the mixture of these two things means that ECHO creeps into the same tone, feeling quite nostalgic, sparse and filmic - and I’m not sure that the script always gives the actor enough time to respond, to act, or to go deeply enough into the story.
In David Byrne’s inaugural season, he promised us ‘bold voices’, and ‘exceptional writers’, and ECHO does lure me in with its experimental form, warm writing and touching intimacy. I have an inkling that lots of people will feel the same. Plus I left the Royal Court having booked another ticket for next week - if that’s not a glowing review, I don’t know what is.
ECHO (Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen) is running for 3 weeks at the Royal Court from Sat 13 Jul - Sat 27 Jul.
For tickets and information visit https://royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/echolift/
Photos by Manuel Harlan, showing dress rehearsal performer Kate Maravan
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