By Paul Brooks, journalist and writer
LynchPin Productions Theatre Company won rave reviews from audiences attending the opening three performances of its new multi-media play, Consider This… at Guildford’s Electric Theatre at the end of June this year.
The new play, inspired by stories from The Forgiveness Project and part-funded by the Arts Council and Initiatives of Change UK, tells the story of a chance meeting and subsequent dialogue between a fabulous story-teller named Canta Dora and a man on the run from his past named Pews.
Interwoven into this dialogue are original songs and music, spoken testimony, and filmed interviews with victims and perpetrators of crimes who discuss the long road to forgiveness and reconciliation.
One particularly moving interview saw the survivor of an IRA bomb blast discuss her journey from physical recovery after losing a leg to her psychological recovery and eventual decision to forgive those who committed the atrocity.
The professional cast of Consider This… featured Sarah Finigan and John House, who gave superb performances in the lead roles of Canta Dora and Pews, conveying both the pain of the characters’ own stories and also injecting some offbeat humour along the way.
The supporting ensemble of Phillip Voyzey, Sufia Manya, Edie Campbell and Razia Aziz helped tell the moving stories taken from the Forgiveness Project archives and also provided sterling support playing several instruments and joining in with the ensemble singing when needed.
An audience of 175 people watched the show over its initial three-night run and just under half of that number stayed afterwards for three Talkback sessions, where invited panels discussed themes and ideas from the play.
Panellists at these sessions, which were moderated by local broadcaster Jeff Thomson, included: Forgiveness Project founder Marina Cantacuzino; Amjad Saleem of the Cordoba Foundation; Local Police Commander for Guildford Borough, Matt Goodridge; Assistant Chief Officer for Restorative Justice for the London Probation Trust, Andrew Hillas; consultant psychiatrists Dr Nicholas Beecroft and Dr Joan Smithies; prison outreach worker Charlie Ryder; and Anita Amendra, Project Manager, Sustainable Communities, Initiatives of Change UK.
The discussions at these Talkback sessions covered a wide range of issues generated by the content of the play and there were lively debates about conflict resolution and restorative justice, including the panelists talking about their own experiences, which ranged from dealing with psychopaths in prisons to bringing reconciliation in Sri Lanka.
At one very moving point of the discussions, one audience member explained how his sister had been killed by his brother-in-law and how he had forgiven him, even though the rest of his family thought that was disrespectful to his sister.
In another Talkback, a woman who had come to see the show told how a family member had been driven to attempt suicide by the actions of others, and that when she came into the theatre she still believed that she could not forgive those people for their behaviour and its consequences. She then went onto explain how watching the play had made her realise that the anger and bitterness she was holding was only hurting her, and that perhaps she might be able to forgive after all.
If the point of producing Consider This… was to explore the transformative power of theatre, then everyone present at these performances and the Talkbacks that followed were witnessing an honest and quite remarkable flow of opinions and very moving personal stories.
There were obviously some flaws in the play and a few technical issues that need to be resolved, but these three performances were the first staged versions of Consider This… and improvements will be made.
In fact audience feedback was encouragedat the end of each performance through a three-page feedback form. The fact that some 60 audience members have so far taken the time to respond to that form suggests the play stayed with them.
Such feedback will also give writer and director Jack Lynch, whose idea it was to create the piece, and the creative team behind the play plenty of food for thought when the play goes back into redevelopment before touring next year.
And, if the opening three nights of Consider This… were anything to go by, the tour promises to make another powerful argument for the transformative power of theatre.
Commenting on the play, Anita Amendra said: 'The play interweaves true stories of suffering, healing and forgiveness with colourful characters. At the same time, there was music, laughter and intriguing and thought-provoking graphic presentations and a message of how to confront the traumas of the past.'
English