East End Review

Tag: Rahul Desai

  • Sarai: stage review – Old Testament drama proves power of the scriptures

    Sarai – Sarah Hickson 620
    Karlina Grace-Paseda in Sarai at the Arcola Theatre. Photograph: Sarah Hickson

    Scriptural tale Sarai begins with the audience being plunged into literal and figurative darkness, as Abraham’s companion Sarai laments her childless state in an unforgiving ancient land.

    It’s a thunderous opening to a story of migration, family and fulfilment, with Karlina Grace-Paseda as Sarai announcing herself as the play’s titular character and central force using the full force of her body and voice.

    The production uses a minimal set, with music the only accompaniment to the performance. Sarai manipulates her on-stage environment to show the camp she has left, while costume changes accompany different circumstances.

    Mood lighting reflects Sarai’s state-of-mind and invites the audience into her physical and symbolic journey. The live musical accompaniment is a fusion of cultures and could easily find a home at experimental jazz venue Cafe Oto next door.

    Musical director Byron Wallen has assembled a quartet from the African, Middle Eastern and Japanese traditions, which provides a wholly original backdrop to events. Dynamic range is conveyed with the diverse array of instruments including cellos, trumpets, flutes, harps, percussion and drums. This pan-continental approach voices Sarai’s tribulations and is played with verve and precision, converging with her movements in moments of epiphany.

    The production tells a religious story, all the while endowing it with wider significance. Grace-Paseda’s performance is full of classical intensity and poise, as she dominates the material in a multi-faceted, towering performance. Sarai is an enveloping theatrical experience that brings to life its source material and a reminder of the power and quality of Old Testament narratives.

    Sarai is at the Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street, E8 3DL until 7 November.
    arcolatheatre.com

  • Art review – The Poor Door: ‘a mini-Dismaland’

    The Poor Door...exhibition space
    The Poor Door exhibition space at Hackney Downs Studios

    Nowhere is the current housing crisis more prevalent than in London.

    There has been a 37 per cent increase in London rough sleeping during the past year according to the Department for Communities and Local Government, whilst 22,000 homes stand empty.

    With the figures contradicting Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s previous pledge to end rough sleeping by 2012, housing is set to be one of the major campaigning issues for London mayoral hopefuls ahead of next year’s election in May.

    This is the backdrop to The Poor Door, an exhibition running for two weeks at the A-Side B-Side gallery in Hackney Downs Studios, named after the growing trend for new developments to create separate entrances for tenants according to their wealth.

    Banksy fan Tinsel Edwards found ten other artists to highlight the issue of housing using a variety of perspectives.

    It is this multi-disciplinary approach that you notice on entering the exhibition space, with a large mobile installation and a laptop playing a video on opposite sides. In the far corner a well-dressed eccentric man preaches about the importance of rubble.

    On the wall, an unused mansion on Billionaire’s Row is depicted by the artist KIN, looking as imposing as it does in reality.

    Dead Pigeons and Chandeliers by KIN
    Billionaire’s Row mansion by KIN

    Other highlights include a peephole inviting visitors to view a well-constructed shopping mall panorama and, reflecting that London house prices have risen 18.4 per cent in one year, a mock-up of a Foxton’s estate agents banner, subverting their familiar branding with a pound sign.

    This intimate setting, tucked away on Amhurst Terrace, showcases the passion and creativity of activist art and it was great to see such a range of ages in attendance.

    Short film screenings during the exhibition run include the Focus E15 Mum’s campaign tonight (8 October) at 7.30pm and an artist and curator talk on 10 October at 3pm.

    Whether you’re there to learn or be inspired, this mini-Dismaland adds an important voice to a problem that isn’t going away any time soon.

    The Poor Door is at A-Side B-Side gallery, Hackney Downs Studios, Amhurst Terrace, London E8 2BT until 11 October.