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The Crows plucked your Sinews
The Door, Birmingham Rep
***** HASSAN Mahamdallie is a thoughtful writer
and director with a message to challenge and educate audiences. In
The Crows Plucked your Sinews,
he explores British and Somalian identity and tells us how they co-exist
with each other. It is a representation of Britain today, but also rich
in history, performed by actor Yusra Warsama. The play takes place in two different times and
settings, performed by the captivating Warsama as Mahamdallie cleverly
intertwines two strong characters with different experiences of their
own Somalian culture and moulds them into one. Suban is a young woman of Somalian culture and
lives in the London Borough of Woolwich with her mother, brother and a
grandmother who suffers with dementia. After a stern word from her father, Suban opens
up to her grandmother after rendering her invisible. She soon learns
about her Somalian past, and what it means to be Somalian in Britain
today. As Suban becomes a guardian to her frail
grandmother, she recalls her talking in ‘her own universe’. It is
through this platform that we are transported to Somalia in the time of
British colonial rule, through the guise of Suban’s great-grandmother. Warsama takes on the role of both Suban and her
great grandmother, living in early twentieth century Somalia, fliting
between the two characters with utter ease. She gives the audience a
perfect understanding of each moment in time. Suban, is the young girl from Woolwich who has
problems of her own. She talks about the story of her drug dealer
brother, being stabbed in a racial-induced attack and when Warsama
becomes the great-grandmother, we are exposed to a completely different
Somalian experience.
As a female fighter of a Somalian clan, Warsama
embodies a strong and captivating character, almost majestic and
mythical, talking about the conflicts between British soldiers and
fighting for their territory. Warsama’s performance is moving on all accounts.
By a simple change of accent and a single scarf used as a prop to flit
between the modern lady and the fierce Muslim fighter, the story is
incredibly easy to follow and with Warsama’s beautiful performance, we
are presented with the question of how Somalia has shaped Britain in the
past and its contribution to British culture today. The performance’s atmosphere is shaped by an oud*
player at the side of the stage. At the beginning, we see Suban approach
musician Abdelkader Saadoun and put money into his hat. Later he becomes
just as an important part of the production as the performer herself. His contribution to the
background music and setting the tone links in beautifully with
Warsama’s performance and contributes to the shift in time and place.
Saadoun’s rendition of Sam Cooke’s cultural and poignant song
A Change is Gonna Come
was interestingly placed at the end of the production. Both stories of the past and present give way to
incredibly clear and insightful direction, thanks to Mahamdallies
passion for teaching and speaking to new audiences. It is clear that the
audience learned something fascinating and new. By marrying the past
with the present, Mahamdallie challenged the British audience to discuss
and think about the importance of culture, and how this shapes the
British experience today. The play’s dialogue is lyrical and poetic. It is
fitting that Mahamdallie wrote this story having one particular
performer in mind. Yusra Warsama is a poet, actor and writer based in
Manchester and captures the audience in each and every moment with an
attention to the intricate rhythm and lyricism of both the English and
African dialects that are purposefully shown. The show is a wonderful indication of what
Britain is today, made up of many cultures, pasts and people. Its strong
feminist connotations are inspiring to audiences of every walk of life.
Mahamdallie cuts away every stereotype of Somalian culture and shares
his vast and extensive knowledge for us to be inspired, changed and
challenged. To 11-02-16. Elizabeth Halpin 10-02-16 * An oud is a Middles Eastern stringed instrument similar to a lute.
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