Ayman is a 55 year old psychiatrist. His homosexual son has disappeared and as a result his home life is falling apart. Then Ayman starts counselling the man who he believes was having a relationship with his son. Read more …
An exploration of homosexuality, the family and the corrosive facades of middle class Damascene life.
The show's slow burn pace promises depths it never realises. When you strip away all the Pinteresque pauses and narrative links between patient and doctor and husband and wife, what you're left with is essentially a gay-themed episode of Middle EastEnders.
The play descends into some pretty thin domestic melodrama, as punches are thrown, and predictable insults exchanged; and thanks to the sketchiness of the characterisation, I was left with only a faint sense of the Syrian society that made these characters, and of the vital choices that society now faces, after a year of bloody conflict.
A fascinating and thought-provoking production.
The piece felt didactic and a bit confusing.
A Play, a Pie and a Pint, Glasgow from Monday May 7, 2012, until Saturday May 12, 2012. More info: http://playpiepint.com
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh from Tuesday May 15, 2012, until Friday May 18, 2012. More info: www.traverse.co.uk