Despite the ubiquity of social media, it’s incredibly rare for
a production to actively encourage the use of it. Yet this is the case with Lost Nation from The Red Room production
company, where the production is clearly only the starting point for further
discussion.
As such, this is a multimedia presentation. It all begins with a well-edited documentary
film that details the situations of various members of the Brent community in
north-west London. Each is receiving
benefits, such as housing, child support or disability allowance. These are real people describing their lives,
juxtaposed with middle class views of people’s dependency on the welfare
state. This is a provocative and
eye-opening piece that gives a much needed voice to the titular ‘lost nation’.
As an extension of the film, each of the performances
includes a different monologue, performed on the streets of Kilburn. What is marketed as a “physical journey through
streets and buildings” is in fact a static piece on Kilburn High Road, but its
setting is in the heart of the area in question providing tangible
context. The set is reality itself. This particular performance was ‘Monique’, a
verbatim monologue performed by Martina Laird.
The theatrical style allows us to witness the story first hand, Laird
reciting in conversational, naturalistic fashion that heightens the realism of
the piece. Though the story concerns a woman
suffering from a disability, her mantra of “mind over matter” allows her to
overcome the hardships of her dependency on the welfare state: this is
ultimately an uplifting and positive tale.
The real question, however, is the purpose of the piece,
beyond informing ignorant, middle class theatre goers. Awareness is great, but Lost Nation offers little in the way of suggested solution – as an
audience member, I was left feeling helpless. With its emphasis on verbatim, this is closer
to performance art than a piece of drama – is this theatre, charity or
community project? It’s certainly
enlightening, if bordering on guilt-tripping.
What’s most important, though, is the post-show discussion and the
opinions therein. Lost Nation is part of the ‘Poverty Project’, though this was only
made explicit on the press release – the production contained no allusion as to
the The Red Room’s considerable wider work.
This has the potential to be a powerful piece, but would undoubtedly
benefit from reaching a wider audience to continue its momentum.
3/5
Watch: Lost Nation is performed from 24th-28th July, info here.