REVIEW: BESA De Insomniis Theatre at Drayton Arms 31 October – 4 November 2023

‘a relevant play to put on at the moment’ ★★★★

A little late to start but that’s okay at the Drayton Arms as you have to walk across the acting space to get to the seats, so it was just as well that they waited until everyone had arrived. And it looked like they were expecting a full house. Many of the audience members speaking in a foreign tongue suggested to me that they were aware of something about this play that I was not. Indeed, some of the cast members were from Albania and the title of the play BESA is a code of honour within that community. So it looked like friends and family were here to lend support to the cast.

The story, a well written one at that, centers around the Nazi invasion of the Balkan Peninsular during the Second World War. It shows how the Albanians, in this case a Muslim family, aided in the escape of two Jews fleeing persecution.

Elenor Gagani in the role of the traditionalist mother figure gives a solid performance. Imposing an air of calm over her two bickering children, she tries hard to protect them in the difficult times during the war and afterwards. Laurent Zhubi does well to play two roles, the son and the fishmonger. The quick change of shirt colour being the obvious difference between the two but a masterful control of body language and deportment shows off his accomplished acting skills. Loresa Leka plays the independent daughter Merushe very well, at loggerheads with her mother as she struggles to break out of the mould. Initially by studying to become a doctor then later by rebelling against the attempts to tie her down to a marriage she knows she will not be content with.

The pace was a little ponderous at first with a few lines hesitant and quiet. However, the cautious delivery of information by the father, played by Klodian Merriman, pushed the storyline on and added tension. His nervousness was palpable, which was just what the play needed at this point. His portrayal of the stoic but friendly patriarch rounded off our Albanian family very nicely and the interaction between all four gave a sense of familiarity. Something you would expect between people living together. 

The Italian army bungled the invasion of the Balkans, so the Germans were sent in, to sort things out and it is at this stage where the refugees enter the story. Roy Scintei playing Jakov, whose dream was to become a singer in America, had the audience in stitches with the embarrassed rendition of a love song he writes for Merushe. And Shiri Noa fitted in well as the timid sister. A few simple costume additions dated the piece back in the 1940s and the air raid was acted out in slow motion, reminiscent of a Guy Ritchie film. The father gets shot helping the Jews escape after Jakov falls in love with Merushe and gets her pregnant. He does rather heroically return after the war to marry her and take her and his daughter off to live happily ever after in the land of the free.

With the horrors of war very present in our minds at this time this seems a relevant play to put on at the moment. It shows that cooperation between Muslims and Jews is a lesson we should take to heart. Or in fact amongst all the people in the world. Unfortunately though it may be another case of history repeating itself, albeit ironically with the shoe being on the other foot this time round.

Winston Churchill, and I’m not a big fan had one thing very profound to say about this kind of situation, “the one thing we learn from history is that we do not learn from history”. Let’s hope he was wrong.

De Insomniis Theatre

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Reviewed by Robert McLanachan