Communion, Bush Theatre Review

Reviews

9 Aug

`Communion at Bush Theatre. Photo by Harry Elletson.`

Written by Jasmine for Theatre and Tonic.

Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review. All opinions are our own.

The introduction to Communion perfectly sets out exactly what the Bush Theatre’s (first!) Young Company intend to say, and why it needs to be said now; a question at the centre of any theatre production.

The magic of theatre is that it is immediate, that the show will change every night and be experienced differently by both the performers and the audience each night in each different set of circumstances. Communion understands this; the show is a series of deeply personal stories about what it means to come together, usually over food, and how our differences do not need to come between us, but can bring us together. In the context of the recent racism and violence across the UK, the message could not be more vital, and the very first words of the play acknowledge this; that this is an alternative narrative to the violence of the world outside, a truer one.

Katie Greenall and the Company’s script feels in every moment like an active collaboration; almost every company member has a personal segment, speaking about their relationship to this idea of ‘communion’ - memories of church services or family meals, bringing in your mum’s rice for lunch or a teapot to your first year of university. It feels like a privilege to hear them tell these stories. These segments highlight the individuality of everyone in the group, and the way that they interchange with group scenes or movement sequences highlights the joy of individuals with different experiences coming together.

The theme of ‘communion’ is used to touch on a lot of different aspects of people’s personal experiences - on religion and faith, family, school days, fitting in with your friends, relationships, and how meals can be so significant to our individual cultures. There are moments where a conversation will happen across two languages or when only movement will be used to communicate, showing all the different ways we can meet with each other.

Both the beginning and end frame the key concept as a pot luck - everyone bringing their own food, basing it on a moment when the company came together to share a meal. It expresses what I think a lot of us feel in London - the longing to feel a part of a community, to eat together, to have moments of communion, in a place which can leave you feeling isolated.

That is why this show works so well; it feels deeply relevant to the young company themselves, to the experience of being young in London, with the love and connection the actors feel for the moments they describe shining through constantly. The cast are all so likeable because they make the stories feel conversational, natural and equal parts moving and funny. It is like sitting down at a long dinner table and getting to know 18 lovely strangers, and it will make you want to seek out moments like that in your own life.

I will, however, give one very important warning. Eat before you go. This show is going to make you hungry, because the food they describe sounds incredible. Eat afterwards too. It will make you want to go and cook dinner for all your friends, or meet your mates at the chicken shop up the road, and remind you exactly why you should.

It will remind you that theatre itself is a communion, with each of us showing up after very different days, to have a shared experience. At a time when it is easy to feel swallowed by sadness or anger, this show finds its power in joy, in loving how our differences enrich our lives, and that could not be a more important message.