Theatre / Reviews
Review: All The Beds I Have Slept In, The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic – ‘A beautifully imagined piece of theatre’
In a play that mixes real stories with dynamic staging techniques, Phosphoros Theatre Company has created a visual message which is not only meaningful but crucial. With a cast made up of refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Morocco, All The Beds I Have Slept In brings a whole new meaning to the word ‘personal’.
As mentioned above, the actors in the play are all former refugees, who came to the UK as teenagers. The ensemble is made up of Syed Najibi, Talal Hassan, Nas Kamal, Ismael Mohammed, Abel Atsede and Tewodros Aregawe, whose personal stories have been woven together, along with others, by writer Dawn Harrison.
As the name suggests, the piece recounts the journeys that refugees take to seek asylum in the UK, and the places they sleep on the way. It’s presented through a collection of stories which are performed through scenes, movement sections and poetry.
is needed now More than ever
Between sections, the audience hear recurring audio of people sharing some of the myriad places where they have slept in their journeys through Europe – ranging from train stations and stranger’s beds to rescue boats and mountainsides.
While the idea of a bed underpins the entire narrative, the play is about so much more than sleeping. What the stories are really about are people. People helping people. For example, Kamal recalls finding himself at Gare de Nice and being offered a bed for the night by a stranger, who then bought him a train ticket to Paris. These humanitarian moments are what makes the play’s central message so powerful.
You can tell that a great deal of care has gone into the writing and research of the piece, and director Esther Dix has created something dynamic and vibrant. The sole piece of set is a single bed, which almost has its own personality.
As it is moved around the stage, it creates various backdrops and environments, and is also fully utilised into the play’s choreographed sections. In my favourite of these, the bed becomes a boat, and the ensemble show the dangerous crossing of a tempestuous ocean.
These sequences work very well to counterbalance the more dialogue-heavy scenes. Everything flows well together, though, and the ensemble reallys feels like one unit, though they all carry their own personal stories too.
For me, Syed Najibi is a real highlight; his confidence and vocal delivery drive the play along with the emotional depth it deserves.
Looking around the theatre and seeing a sea of teary-eyed faces, it’s clear that the play struck a chord with the audience. As Najibi says in one of the poems, All The Beds I’ve Slept In is about never forgetting the journeys that we go on, the people we meet and the hope that unites us.
I can’t imagine forgetting a performance like this any time soon.
Follow future news and events from Phosphoros Theatre @phosphorostheatre.
All photos: Al-Hussein Abutaleb
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