Soleimanpour's play does not need a wordy introduction. ECHO, like his previous play, is unrehearsed and improvised. The play relies on the experience of 'first encounter', for both audience and performers alike. Every show stages cold reading by different actors and comedians–Emilia Clarke, Mawaan Rizwan and Jodie Whittaker among others. The premise of this play is its immediacy, which is perhaps best kept without reading a review in advance.
ECHO does not have a linear narrative. The playwright appears on screen himself in a video call and takes the actor through his experience of loss. Few years ago Soleimanpour left Iran thinking that he will never return to his old life and family. The playwright portrays his childhood in Iran and his new chapter in Germany, but a cheerful tour of his Berlin flat soon turns into a fearful interrogation with an officer.
Omar Elerian's direction blends the virtual and theatrical without a glitch. Elerian creates a perfect sense of omnipresence in flashes of clips, narration and imageries. Soleimanpour appeals to the universality of his personal experience by tapping into the prosaic concepts of time, season and universe. There is ingenuity in Soleimanpour's storytelling of his personal experience which the actor tries to mediate.
Adrian Lester led the performance on the press night. Mostly throughout the production, the performer narrates the playwright's story, which Lester executed with a sense of sobriety. There are also instances where the performer is required to step into the shoes of Soleimanpour. These scenes, however, lack performative construction. The dialogue between Lester and interrogator especially had more emotive potential. But at the same time the end of the play is not to seek perfection. If anything, the production is incredibly honest about the mediated or the lack of mediated storytelling through the performer and many symbols.
The obscurity surrounding the play advertises itself and is enough to provoke curiosity. And on stage, it presents a moving carousel of high-tech mixed media from personal memorabilia.
It runs 13 - 27 July 2024 at the Royal Court Theatre, London
Review: Sam Lee