Seen at Edinburgh Festival Fringe on the 12th of August 2023

2 stars – slow-paced

In the suspended space of a coma, a poet faces two instances of his subconscious mind. One is trying to help him find inspiration to write and getting to work, the other is suffering from his selfishness. More and more details about the protagonist emerge in this abstract setting. 

The play revolves around the poet’s struggles, as he is trying to avoid various instances that surface from his subconscious mind. He shows himself as an overly confident person in compensation, and writes about pomegranates, as a symbol for the remote Iran his family stems from. 

The text, written by Mahan Nikbakhsh, raises interesting questions, particularly the one about the relation to English as a native speaker of a different language, namely Farsi. Nonetheless, the play procedes slowly. The actors (Jack Detwiler, Ellie McKey, and Amelia Stokeld) often lack energy and sometimes convey a feeling of discouragement, probably because they needed more actions. It is not an easy show, but more dynamism would have made it more enjoyable. 

Felix Daglish’s direction brought simple but successful solutions for the management of the stage and of the lights. The soundscape was strictly functional, which doesn’t necessarily help in such an abstract setting, and movement needed more care.

I loved the finale, the delicate moment where the protagonist finally lets go of his masks and faces his fears, and himself.