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Wednesday 4 April 2018

Review: The Great Wave, National Theatre

Image source: National Theatre

We went, rather spontaneously, to see The Great Wave at the National Theatre. This is a mystery thriller and a family drama, with the complicated relationship between two sisters right at the heart of it superbly portrayed by Kae Alexander and Kirsty Rider. A co-production with the Kilburn-based Tricycle Theatre, this new play by Francis Turnly was notable in featuring a mixed cast of British and Asian descent. It feels somewhat wrong to be praising the casting of non-Caucasian actors in a play set in Japan and North Korea, and indeed this should be a normal thing to do, not a radical one. Yet this is an industry in which creatives of East Asian descent are still haunted by the racial drag of Puccini's Butterfly and Gilbert & Sullivan's Three Little Maids. It is refreshing to watch a play that is written in England, set in Asia, and goes about the business of telling a gripping and engaging story without being choked in the trap of identity politics.

The set design by Tom Piper was wonderful, and moved the audience between locations effortlessly. I especially enjoyed how set, lighting and projection design combined in an incredibly beautiful and nuanced manner to convey the emotion of the scenes. The events of the play take place over 30 years, and unfortunately the opportunity to display the passing of time through costume design wasn't seized; sadly, the costumes are also uncredited. The characters' ageing is nicely embodied by the performers, yet it is a shame that the costumes don't contribute more poignantly to the visual design, aside from fitting within the colour scheme.

The show played at the Dorfman Theatre, the auditorium round the corner from the National's main entrance. It was at the start, running around the corner breathlessly trying to dodge the icy snow which was somehow coming down through my umbrella, that I realised that I'd never been to this part. In fact, whilst I had walked past the National Theatre countless times - and even been inside to tour the production workrooms whilst studying performance costume at university - I hadn't actually seen a show since I bought a £5 youth ticket for a staging of a Carol Churchill play nearly a decade ago, which left me feeling empty and exhausted.

This brings me to consider why theatre audiences tend to look as they do. We saw a Saturday matinee, which I realise could affect the experience. The vast majority of the audience (my estimate is over 90%) was White, a further majority (I estimate 50%) were near retirement age. This is based on observations, not an academic survey, but whilst there were a few clusters of people who like us were of Black, Asian and Mixed descent, we were certainly a minority. And this in a really fantastically written, acted and designed production which tells a thought-provoking, relevant mystery story about people who don't look like the cast of PoirotMidsomer Murders, or, I dunno, The Archers.

 I have been thinking about buildings as not containers or institutions but as familiar entities that we meet on the street, rather like a distant cousin we feel a detached sense of friendliness towards. I have been thinking about buildings which anyone has the right to freely enter, but which I myself would never step foot in. And there are many buildings which contain things that I find interesting, but which so many people would never engage with. Blurring into the streetscape, many walk straight by, and paths do not converge. The barriers are clearly psychological, not physical, but it is imperative to consider new ways of reaching broader audiences. Audiences who might not normally visit, but who would love the work. Otherwise I fear that producers will become reluctant to fund interesting new work which takes risks - even if those risks - like going against portraying racial stereotypes in writing and casting - are clearly stupid and shouldn't exist.

Diversity is a horrible buzzword that makes me feel frustrated because cultural organisations, whilst preaching equality of opportunity, are being far too slow to react to the importance of ensuring their output reflects the make-up of the wider population. My aunt and several of her friends were hired by the BBC in a diversity drive for young television director-producers in the mid-1990s; more than 20 years on, hardly anything has changed. Some adverts, TV shows and films may include more 'people of colour' in their visuals, but this is rarely reflected in the staff who actually work on the shows (in both manual and intellectual labour), let alone amongst boards of directors. My partner and I are used to being the only non-white person amongst backstage, creative and/or production staff. What I'm saying, I suppose, is that the diversity thing isn't just for good-looking performers, but actually goes into all levels of the theatre industry, from those physically building the shows, to those sitting in the stalls.

Anyway. If you want to watch a great play, see The Great Wave. 

The Great Wave is playing at the National Theatre until 14 April.

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