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A cabaret underneath the Gezi Park protests hosts a troupe of activists in Déjà Vu Kabaret – a show of passion let down by site-specific elements and uncomfortable immersion.Summary
Rating
Ok
For three weeks in 2013, waves of demonstrations saw three million people take to the streets of Turkey. The spark is a sit-in at Istanbul’s Gezi Park, where an underground cabaret is a haven for environmental protesters. Excessive use of police force led a number of people to lose their lives. The activists didn’t stop but had to adapt to new political attitudes. Smells like the ingredients for a musical, right?
A group of young artists are bringing the protesters’ cabaret to life in Off The Beat Production’s inaugural show, Déjà Vu Kabaret. It’s billed as immersive and ‘site-specific’ (which we’ll come back to…) to The Red Lion Leytonstone, making use of its fabulous ballroom and adjoining spaces. The characters of this story and their actions are fictional, but in front of the very real backdrop of the Gezi Park protests.
Praise has to be given for the creativity of the idea. Taking a known situation to provide a framework for performance is compelling. A smattering of real events can be put in, and a fresh perspective is given to something that lives on for many as just a memory from the Six o’clock news. A story of love, friends, art and passion is created around the lead, Seline, played by co-writer of Déjà Vu Kabaret Alara Koroglu. The troupe of students and fresh graduates that make up the cast have been given something meaty to get stuck into.
I’m sad to say that the ideas don’t live up to reality tonight, and the promise of something great was let down by a combination of flaws. The Grand Ballroom is a stunning venue, but the acoustics of the high ceilings meant I struggled to hear lines. A wordy script led to quick delivery, but much of the time words were lost. I caught the gist of things which was enough to get through the narrative, but the (probably) carefully constructed proses are sadly lost.
More avoidably, the immersive and ‘site-specific’ aspects were uncomfortable. A cabaret set-up along a traverse stage in the main area adjoined two other areas, with a couple of additional rooms along the back. Immersion was twofold: clunky and unnecessary audience participation – a man was shouted at to give his full name, which was invasive and irrelevant – and then we were taken in two groups to different areas to see different things. We had no choice in which group we went with, our places dictated by coloured wrist bands, and we missed what the other group got to see. I was in one area, and the other group were treated to music just behind an un-soundproof curtain. Not only could I not hear what I was meant to be listening to, but I was more interested in the other.
To me, site-specific means that the piece of art and the location are inseparable: the piece can’t exist without the place. Off The Beat Productions Instagram account has previously advertised Déjà Vu Kabaret in two other venues (although I imagine one fell through as it is the same dates as the run in the Red Lion), leading me to wonder if it was indeed written for the Red Lion. And if it was, why was the location left to be a source of difficulty for the production?
The energy and commitment from most of the cast was evident. Feeling and passion for the events and story could be felt. It is a truly great idea, perhaps they can drop ‘site-specific’ and try it somewhere else with some additional care and attention to detail. I hope the young artists involved don’t take this critique too much to heart; my disappointment stems from really wanting to hear what you had to say and so I was frustrated at not being able to.
Directed by: Sofia Zaragoza
Written by: Alara Koroglu and Frederick Zennor
Produced by: Sofia Zaragoza and Alara Koroglu for Off The Beat Productions
Music by: Cyrus Atkinson
Déjà Vu Kabaret was on at the Red Lion Leytonstone from 20-22 July, and has now completed its run.
