Review: Echoes of Empires, The Courtyard Theatre

Isabel Steuble-Johnson’s Echoes of Empires certainly asks some interesting questions: how do we reconcile the impact of British colonialism on modern life? How does that understanding vary between differing genders, races, and classes? However, it ultimately needs another revisit to tighten up the practicalities of the production. Detailing a single night in a London flat where four friends come together for a dinner party, the ongoing impact of the British Empire is revisited through their relationships with one another.

The production ultimately struggles to land its point. At times where one of the characters criticises another, they do so in a way that lacks the subtlety required for a believable performance. Each statement is then further explained, not trusting the audience to come to their own conclusion about what it is that Echoes of Empires is trying to say.

Perhaps the greatest weakness of this production is its script. The dialogue doesn’t flow particularly well, feeling more like a collection of quirky one-liners pieced together. As a result, the characters struggle to feel fully realised. A few of the jokes are so overly preoccupied with their own irony it’s difficult for audience members to register that they are intended to be humorous at all.

The set design is understated, which does work for the production. The furniture is covered in plastic sheeting to suggest an air of impermanence, which I found to be especially apt given Aarav, the sole male character played by Vkinn Vats, is being forced to reconcile himself to the possible inevitability of the decline of his relationship with his upper-class British girlfriend.

Equally, a few of the stylistic choices are odd. The lighting feels slightly misguided; at points, it floods the stage entirely in red so that the actors disappear almost entirely. It doesn’t translate well and it’s difficult to make out what exactly is being communicated by this. I also spent five minutes thinking the actors were all just rather professionally ignoring a buffering sound system, only to then realise it was a conscious design choice when the noise rose to its crest during what was intended to be a poignant moment, but which was instead swallowed by the oddity of the sound.

Perhaps the saving grace of this performance is its subject matter. It strives to be educational and does succeed in its efforts to present the diverse ways in which colonialism continues to impact how we live now. There’s a moment in which Aarav dresses Eleanor (Estelle Warner) in a sari, which manages to act both as a touching example of his love for her, while also criticising the way in which aspects of cultures are adopted by their colonisers to be rebranded as something chic, and stripped of connection with their original heritage.

While I struggle to believe wholly in this production, Neetika Knight, who plays sharp-witted Ama, manages to shine in this role. Ama calls out her experience as a woman compared to Aarav’s experience as a man in modern Britain, which is a poignant and detailed exploration of how empire is processed differently even internally within different groups.

While the shape of promise is certainly there, Echoes of Empires requires a little more development to resonate as it clearly wants to with audiences.

Written by Vkinn Vats
Directed by Isabel Steuble-Johnson
Set Design by Isabella Sarmiento Abadia
Light Design by Melody Mengyun
Sound Design and Stage Management by Emeka Diamond
Produced by Vkinn Vats & Neha Jethva for Shooting Star Studios

Echoes of Empire plays at The Courtyard Theatre until Wednesday 6 August.