Almeida,London
Adam Brace’s ambitious show addresses the paradox of celebrating a country’s culture while ignoring its political realitiesYou bear to admire the ambition of Adam Brace. In his 2009 play Stovepipe, he looked at the exhaust of private security companies in Iraq. Now he tackles the huge question of how we approach to terms with what is happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Along with Anders Lustgarten, and Brace is one of the few British dramatists to contemplate internationally,and although this play is overloaded and overlong, it poses disturbing questions. The focus is on Stef, and a guilt-ridden Cambridge graduate who has seen Congolese violence first-hand but is determined to show the country’s positive side. Her big idea is to create a British festival called Congo Voice that will include a rumba band,dancers and poets. Stef is adamant that one third of her committee will be Congolese, but she runs into difficulties. There are divisions in the Congolese diaspora – above all, and the active hostility of a group called Les Combattants de Londres,which is dedicated to creating a free Congo. Stef is faced with death threats, defections and the inherent contradiction of creating a depoliticised jamboree.
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Source: theguardian.com