MAJENIN – A Palestinian Love Story @ Pleasance Dome
MAJENIN is a spectacle of a show about the struggle between external pressure and internal longing
The bustle of New York brings two old Palestinian friends together as they begin to talk, relate and flirt – until things grow more serious. Marena Riyad, playing Marena, drives the narrative about society, culture and diaspora. A younger version of her character is played by Nadia Dawber, figuratively splitting her conscience in two. As Dawber's performance is infatuated, Riyad's begins as such, but unexpectedly shifts into cynicism. It is not easily understood how or why this shift takes place, leaving the narrative feeling a bit confused.
The play switches between stand-up and theatre to give a rather scattered insight into a woman’s anxieties around modern love, dating and taboo. Riyad breaks the fourth wall with comedic interjections about her love life and diasporic confusion. The format makes for a potentially immersive experience, but does not override the awkwardness that lingers throughout the production. There is chemistry, but a lack of depth to the romance between the main characters, leaving us unable to develop the strongest of empathies or sympathies by the end.
The atmosphere is constructed tastefully through music. The actors are vivacious and expressive, utilising the stage in clever ways, but the production does not shake its stagnant narrative. Less a journey, and more a spectacle, MAJENIN portrays the ups and downs of infatuation. However, the play is a bit too plotless to have us rooting for or against the couple.
MAJENIN – A Palestinian Love Story, Pleasance Dome (10 Dome), until 31 Aug (not 18, 19), 11:45am, £16-18