THEATRE-BRITAIN: Colonialism Savaged On Stage

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Beverley Andrews

LONDON, Jun 4 1996 (IPS) - The internationally acclaimed Theatre du Complicite has returned to London with another ground-breaking show: ‘Foe’, which gives a completely new interpretation of the Robinson Crusoe story.

Instead of being a tribute to the heroic endeavours of Crusoe, this play has turned the original 18th century novel from Daniel Defoe into a damning indictment on the evils of colonization. In the process, ‘Foe’ poses the question who decides our history, and from which perspective written history is made.

The play opens with Friday, Crusoe and Susan all stranded on a mythical desert island. Plagued by the desolate conditions and driven by hunger Crusoe and Susan blame God for their fate and struggle to find some meaning for their existence.

Susan particularly becomes obsessed with documenting their story. Talking about their past lives and their plans for their future, Susan and Crusoe’s mutually dependent relationship gradually develops into a kind of love.

But neither Susan nor Crusoe can adjust to their new lives and they spend most of their time longing for rescue. It is only the mute Friday who is able to adapt and comes to thrive in the wild surroundings.

‘Foe’ stars two of Complicite’s most acclaimed performers, Kathryn Hunter and founder member Marcello Magni. Olivier Award winner Hunter particularly, in the role of Susan, brings both honesty and grit to the part and manages to make her obsession to document her experience sympathetic. Newcomer Patrice Naiambana also makes a strong impact as the silent and proud Friday.

Marcello Magni not only performs in tne show but is one of the play’s directors. He and Annie Castledine manage to bring a fresh innovative touch to an old story.

‘Foe’ marks Complicite’s eleventh year and its London visit is part of a world tour which will include Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. The show comes hot on the heels of their highly acclaimed production of ‘The Tree Lives of Lucie Cabrol’.

Cabrol received four Olivier Award nominations in 1994 including Best Director, Best New Play and Best Lighting and is currently scheduled for an international tour later this year which will take in New York’s Lincoln Centre

‘Foe’ is very different in style to much of Complicite’s previous work in that it has a strong narrative structure as well as a political message. The play is not only an attack on the horrors of colonialisation but also attacks written history which distorts and omits dissenting voices.

This point is made not only in the production itself but is reiterated in the show’s programme which includes quotes by famous political figures. John Adams, America’s second President, is quoted to have said, “The public history of all countries and all ages is but a sort of mask and richly coloured. The interior working of the machinery must be foul.”

The famous African historian Cheikl Anta Diop makes an even stronger attack on the legacy of written history: “Imperialism, like the prehistoric hunter, first killed the being spiritually and culturally, before trying to eliminate it physically. The negation of the history and intellectual achievements of black Africans was cultural, mental murder, which preceded and paved the way for their genocide here and there in the world.”

In ‘Foe’ the castaways are eventually rescued by a passing ship. Crusoe unfortunately dies shortly after but Susan and Friday do make their way to England and Susan spends the rest of her life writing their story. The play ends with a cold and bewildered Friday trapped in England uttering the only sound he makes throughout the play: a long heartbreaking scream of despair.