Review of ‘A Knock On The Roof’: “A powder-keg narrative still waiting for ignition”

The Royal Court Theatre welcomes the London premiere of Khawla Ibraheem, exploring the struggles of a young Palestinian mother trying to survive during the Gaza Strip conflict. Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the show, to let us know if this singular vision of a globally conscious topic manages to bring a universal grasp into it.

Every story has two sides – and more than two ways of seeing how that rule applies. Too often, we think it’s a question of finding peace between clashing parties. What we usually forget is that every tale we’re told brings us, too, into the picture. For it’s not always about who’s right and who’s wrong – but who judges from the outside and who experiences its wonders or horrors first-hand.

It would be naive to say that there’s no political message behind A Knock On The Roof. But it would be even more naive (to some point, idiotic) to wish a play dealing with the Gaza conflict didn’t have it. It’s genuinely impossible. And in some way, fairly undesirable. Yet, none of this is relevant when it comes to a struggling mother trying to go on in a place and time where survival is not even an option. This is not a plot about governmental interests. This is the journey of those who have to suffer from their consequences.

Penned and performed by Khawla Ibraheem, this one-woman show, occasionally interactive (watch out – wherever you are), introduces us to a reality that we all know of. But regardless of how we feel about the issue, we might have not actually understood it until it’s been introduced in such a bold and cruel manner.

Ibraheem does an adequate job not just at boosting the humanity of her character, but of the themes she represents. Elevating the pathos through the sincere plainness of its style, the script effectively makes us forget any conviction or prejudice, and encourages our energies to focus on what indeed matters: those who have nothing to do with what they are going through, and only intend to exist.

It comes as a bit of a shock how many times you’ll be laughing during the rendition. This is no comedy – and the jokes won’t make you roar either. But this approach is probably the most pivotal element in the whole concoction. It works quite successfully – reinforcing sympathetic traits of its personage, and bestowing an additional level of authenticity upon its narrative. This is not done for the sake of putting more drama over the drama. But to extract the mundane truth out of it.

Yet, there are some crucial problems in the writing that prevent the piece from achieving its full potential. Slightly flawed in terms of structure, the arc set for the protagonist feels unpolished and unfinished – oozing a sense of repetitiveness that, far from enhancing the strength of its topics, turns out to weaken the general appeal and interest of the recount. Its abrupt ending, coming from a good idea but poorly executed, doesn’t accomplish the level of poignancy the story needs and probably aims for – projecting an image of underdevelopment that compromises the memorability of the material.

Under the direction of Oliver Butler, the staging is carried out with extraordinary prowess. Simple but full of meaning and visual robustness, its blend of lighting tricks and uncomplicated projections provides the account with a cinematic rhythm – balancing out, to some degree, the absence of robustness we spot in some parts of the script. On the other hand, Ibraheem makes a valuable effort as an actress, but the candour of her lines is not matched by the way she delivers them – with her portrayal striving to convey enough depth and credibility.

Art is bound to open the heart and challenge the mind. In that aspect, A Knock On The Roof manages to exit the stage victoriously thanks to the relevance of its subjects and how those are brought up. Nonetheless, both piece and production still require an extra layer of elaborateness to put its plan into action, and lead to a more triumphant outcome that washes away the mild blandness of its aftertaste. As piercing as its premise may sound, the stir only happens midway. And as much as it’s thought-provoking, not every thought it triggers comes with praise.

A Knock On The Roof plays at London’s Royal Court Theatre until 8 May. Tickets are available on the following link.

By Guillermo Nazara