Theatre / Mayfest 2018
Review: Mayfest: Now is the Time to Say Nothing
Now Is The Time To Say Nothing depicts the Syrian conflict not as we normally see it – but as we should see it. It dispenses with the unsympathetic lens of the media, and instead shows the war through the lens of an ordinary citizen’s camcorder. There is little mediated political debate inside the Houses of Parliament; rather, the audience is invited inside the home of filmmaker Reem Karssli.
The interactive video installation is a circle of chairs, each with its own television set and pair of headphones, facing outwards. This arrangement fragments and isolates each audience member as if they were alone in their own front rooms. As the experience begins, we are the usual television audience, our backs to each other, passively consuming information about far away countries other than our own and people whom we do not nor will never know. In this mode, all is well and good because we do not have to act.
Pic: Aphra Evans
But then a group of London teenagers contact Reem and suddenly the story gains another dimension. Their aim is to make people truly empathise with the stories of real-life Syrians in a way the news fails to. We see them discuss with Reem how this might be achieved, dry-run these ideas on the streets of London, and become struck by fear and concern when she stops replying to their messages. Funnily enough, witnessing their touching interactions over a patchy Skype connection between London and Damascus on the screen brings Reem’s story closer to home.
is needed now More than ever
Alongside news archive of the conflict, these interactions pepper the footage of Reem’s home life and family. But before long, the television – normally a tool of stagnation rather than change – begins to give orders to the audience in bold white lettering. Scenes just witnessed in one of Reem’s grainy, endearing home videos are recreated between the audience members of the Arnolfini theatre.
Pic: Aphra Evans
The experience becomes visceral. We huddle close together on the floor as the roar of a boat engine on its way to Europe shakes the floor beneath us. Reem’s voice whispers in our ear: we are becoming a refugee with her.
A collaboration between Reem Karrsli, the London teenagers, and artist Caroline Williams, Now Is The Time To Say Nothing explores the many ways in which screens might be used to meaningfully connect audiences across the globe with the suffering of everyday Syrians – and, in doing so, highlights how little they succeed in achieving this today.
Now Is The Time To Say Nothing continues at Arnolfini until Sun, May 20 with multiple showings daily. For more info on this and the rest of the Mayfest 2018 programme, visit mayfestbristol.co.uk/programme
Read more: Preview: Mayfest 2018
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