Review: Kidnap, Rosemary Branch Theatre

There’s very little doubt that some of the content in Samia Rida‘s one woman show will offend certain audience members. It’s intentionally the case too, as she begins provocatively with a brief explanation of how she came to be part Saudi Arabian and part English, before taunting the audience by suggesting that “multiculturalism has failed” and “motherhood is a mental illness”.

Thankfully, there are very strong reasons as to why Rida suggests these ideas which she doesn’t really believe in, or at the very least doesn’t think are anywhere as simplistic as that. It does take a little while to get to that part however, and the first act feels more like a stand up set that contains some very smart and very funny jokes, but also some which are showing their age and are a little creaky.

Rida is very self-aware about this, often telling the audience that she had warned them that there’d be jokes about certain taboo topics. It’s just a slight shame they aren’t sharper, and that she doesn’t avoid the obvious punchline at times, as after an initially slightly shaky start she’s on far stronger ground once she explains the manner in which her mother and father met. It’s here that the show kicks up a level, definitely due to the fact that it involves Rida speaking about her three other siblings, and she finally incorporates herself in to the narrative.

At this point the monologue becomes far more emotionally involving, and some of the best lines are intentionally heartbreaking while still managing to generate laughter, which is no mean feat. A large part of this section involves the fact that her brother was disabled, the roles her two other siblings had in the family, and the one thing that they all had in common – when their father was violent towards their mother they froze, too young and too scared to know how to help.

Gradually Rida’s jovial performance becomes sterner, which combined with some very subtle changes in lighting makes this more emotive and affecting. It’s also where the title comes in to play, as when her mother began divorce proceedings against her husband, he responded by taking three of the four children to Saudi Arabia. It’s enormously riveting at this point, mainly as at the time she didn’t necessarily think what was happening to her was a bad thing.

The only issue is that it’s all too brief a segment, and then everything is wrapped up shortly afterwards, with the play running for just under fifty minutes. Admittedly, if the main criticism of a show is that you wanted it to be longer, then you know you’re on to a pretty good thing, and Rida’s show is often fascinating. But given its abbreviated form, an extra half hour could turn it in to the kind of show where you’d be rushing to recommend it to all and sundry, and it’s not quite there yet.

Written by Samia Rida
Directed by Gareth Edwards

Kidnap has now finished its run at the Rosemary Branch Theatre.