REVIEW | Lessons On Revolution, The Hope Theatre

Reviewer - Cathie

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review

Accessibility notes: This show is on the top floor of the Hope and Anchor pub in Islington. There is some floor based seating on cushions but if you need to switch seats the staff will help you.

Content warning: In terms of trigger warnings this show does discuss suicide, racism, assault, homophobia, colonialism and war. This show also alternates between different kinds of projectors and does have moments of darkness/ slowly flashing bulbs. This show also includes audience participation if you’re in the front row (they check first to see if people will be happy to join in as you wear a star sticker to represent this).

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1968. 3000 students occupy the London School of Economics, in the most significant act of protest in a generation.

2023. Two theatre-makers try to work out what radical change means today, searching through archives, photos, and first-hand accounts.

Everything's connected: from the Prague Spring to MLK Jr's murder, the Paris riots to the Nigerian Civil War, and it's all converging here and now.

A co-production from Carmen Collective and Undone Theatre, Lessons on Revolution is a fabulous and bold new piece of documentary theatre. It is a gripping, intimate and immersive journey through global, colonial and personal history which asks: in a new age of inequality and injustice, how can the voices of the past give us hope?

Although I can’t go into too much depth of the plot of this play without spoiling it, this show explores this protest at LSE in 1968, the antecedents rolling up to it, the colonial connections between LSE and the former country of Rhodesia and its potential ramifications both then and today, whilst spliced with the difficult realities of life in inner London. Although its running time is only 1 hour, this story is tightly paced, incredibly well researched and packs a ton of information into a beautifully intricate deep dive into this significant protest. This dynamic duo of cast and writer (GABRIELE UBOLDI & SAMUEL REES) is magnetic, performing a heartfelt retelling of events with a level of sincerity and pathos that’s as hard to find as a diamond in Hyde park. The way they integrate members of the audience to play key characters with props is gentle and supportive. It adds a real community feel to this show and a sense of collective discovery. This show also feels personal, vulnerable and exposed in a witty, gleaming dialogue as this play explores not only the protest event but the cast’s personal experiences of homophobia and immigration.

This play is a brilliant demonstration of what London theatre should be all about. Although the venue is an intimate space of 50 seats, the set is set up to appear in the cast’s living room and simultaneously in the Old Library at LSE. Despite the small space this show uses the setting, the sparse props, voice recordings and projectors to stunning effect and the level of care and devoted effort they put into writing this are palpable and sincere. I wish many of my past lectures were as high energy and multi layered as this show. Some of the lines still haunted me on the way home including “It’s true until we decide it’s not. We’re doomed until we decide we’re not”. Despite the point of this show being that it leaves as many questions raised as answered I left feeling hopeful and invigorated about the world.

It’s honestly one of the biggest highlights of my year of theatre so far and I urge everyone to go and watch this show.

Runs until 7 October 2023 at The Hope Theatre.