This week the curtain comes down on the Play, Pie, Pint/National Theatre of Scotland mini season of work looking at the Arab World.
A thought-provoking, enlightening cultural exchange it has been too, with this spiritually uplifting effort, directed by David Greig, the pick of the bunch.
Subtitled 24 Hours In The Middle East or How To Stage A Revolution in 18 Easy Lessons, it features a smorgasbord of contributions from young playwrights from the region. The end result is a kaleidoscopic drama-cum-revolutionary-sketch show, packed with humour and poignancy.
Egyptian actors, Sara Shaarawi and Seif Abdelfattah deliver the series of quick-fire vignettes on offer. And what a job they make of it, with special mention going to Abdelfattah for his "show must go on" spirit in taking to the stage in a wheelchair after breaking his leg in rehearsals.
During the show the audience are given instruction in protest chants; learn important life lessons in revolutionary activity ("When you see tanks – run!"); and are introduced to a rich seam of social network tales and real-life experiences from the various uprisings. All the while, key moments from the Arab Spring are chalked up on the blackboard at the back of the stage, adding a graffiti visual aide-memoire to events.
If you want to know why tennis balls scrawled with the words "we don't love you" are as potent a protest weapon as Molotov cocktails against oppressive regimes, this is the show for you. A fine end to a worthwhile project of which all concerned with should be rightly proud.
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