Leslie Black PhotographyHadda and Hassan Lekliches! is a very dark and bitter tragicomedy following the journey of two archetypal young Moroccan characters. Read more …
Hadda is a young women whose history of abuse at the hands of a series of men lead her to a searching conversation with God and a terrifying decision about how she will respond to her oppression in the world. Interweaved with Hadda's story is that of Hassan who encounters a series of cliched situations, from interrogation to visa controls to impossible love, building a vivid picture of the pressures and constraints of living as a young Moroccan male today.
What really stands out is the scintillating, multi-tasking performance of Yazbeck, making her UK debut here, and surely a name to look out for in the future.
This show is one that has to be seen; clever, vivid, and all the more disturbing for its fierce, funny humanity, that finally congeals into fury, and implacable hate.
Both Juliana Yazbeck and El Razzougui offer stand-out performances of real integrity, and Ben Harrison’s direction is never less than tight and effective.
Essounani toys throughout with his audience’s expectations in a script that mixes realism and the fable in a powerful and provocative manner. Grid Iron’s Ben Harrison creates this rich canvas with only a smattering of props, some back projections and an atmospheric percussion soundtrack. The pair of performers, meanwhile, switch effortlessly from one character to the next, with Yazbeck’s virtuoso performance a particular revelation.
A Play, a Pie and a Pint, Glasgow from Monday April 30, 2012, until Saturday May 5, 2012. More info: http://playpiepint.com
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh from Tuesday June 5, 2012, until Saturday June 9, 2012. More info: www.traverse.co.uk
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