Khalid Abdalla
HOME Manchester
October 22-26, 2024; 90 mins
Sometimes, 90 minutes can feel like a lifetime in the theatre. Usually this is because, in the Einsteinian world, time is a relative concept which, with poor seating and a poor play, feels like forever.
Nowhere is different. A lifetime in the world of the actor, performer and political activist Khalid Abdalla passes in the blink of an eye.
From the start you are held by his mesmerising presence and ability to use mime. music and his own words to enter the complex world of Middle East politics over the past hundred years. You don’t have to accept his ideas about the way this world came into being, but you do have to accept his passion for change, all expressed in both fiery poetry and superb theatrical staging.
The direction, by Omar Elerian, stands out for its simplicity; you have a good actor so use his skills. Even the BSL role, sometimes a distraction, becomes part of the action as Ali Gordon dances with Khalid.
Khalid uses all the skills of a revolutionary to engage you in his world view. Audience interaction?
Tick. Use of questions to the audience for a physical reaction? Tick. A gift to take away with you?
Tick. He has actually been a revolutionary in terms of taking radical physical action to support a cause he fervently believes in - which for those of the youthful generation of 1968 rings loads of bells. But the audience is not full of white hairs; it’s a youngish, radicalish one that wears its cloth caps with pride and not a little flair.
So what is Abdalla, a Scottish, American, Egyptian-heritage actor doing on a stage in Manchester - apart from illustrating the way in which the UK has become a country in which people can express a world view that will be heard, if not agreed?
Abdalla is using interactive concepts to show the power of we humans to cope with life. He is demonstrating the ability of theatre to engage with all aspects of human life. He is making his audience laugh. He is giving you the gift of looking at our world through his eyes.
At the heart of the performance by the charismatic, engaging, politicised, serious, humorous Khalid is family. As we explore with him how, through the accidents of history, his ancestors moved from Egypt through the Arab world to the UK, there is much moving, funny, serious imagery. But the final one, as he makes a dove of peace slowly and seriously, almost against his will, leaves an indelible image on the audience.
More info and tickets here
