Reviews for Dalia Taha’s Fireworks at the Royal Court Theatre
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Fireworks, a new play by Palestinian writer Dalia Taha is receiving a wealth of positive reviews from critics after its opening at the Royal Court Theatre, part of the Royal Court’s International Playwrights programme that is supported and funded by the Genesis Foundation. The play was first developed during the Royal Court’s International Residency in 2013 and is a personal and considered response to the recent conflict in Gaza.
What’s On Stage ★★★★
‘What Taha does brilliantly is convey the precarity of life in Palestine, then trace its over-arching psychological and philosophical impact… This is a deeply troubling play; difficult and elusive, especially at this speed, but all the more disconcerting for that slipperiness. It’s played beautifully.’
Time Out ★★★★
‘It is a naturalistic window into the unnatural lives of normal people trying to get on with things during war.’
Arts Desk ★★★★★
‘This is…90 plus minutes of perfectly modulated near-monologue in which Stevenson’s infinite variety, channelled with no false note by wise young director Natalie Abrahami, proves you can’t draw any conclusion about our heroine’s predicament, only sheer wonder at her tenacious survival.’
Evening Standard★★★★
‘Dalia Taha’s play offers a refreshingly oblique perspective on the conflict in Gaza.’
Guardian ★★★
‘[A] fierce, tender play.’
Daily Telegraph ★★★
‘It’s a disconcerting, provocative jolt for the audience and proof that Dalia Taha is a young playwright of considerable promise’
The Stage ★★★
‘Taha sketches out – in Clem Naylor’s clear and direct translation – the psychology of people trying to live in siege conditions with enormous grace and power.’
View a selection of photos from the production:
To read more about the International Playwrights Programme and Elyse Dodgson’s work in Palestine, click here.
Fireworks will be performed in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre until 14 March 2015. Click here to find out more.