Elba continues at Just The Sub-Atomic Room at Just The Tonic Nucleus until 30 August (except 18).
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Elba, a quiet little island off the coast of Italy. Enter Pons (Ishan Mahabir-Stokes, who wrote and directed the show). He is the common man spirit of the island, a fisherman who is terrible at fishing, an easy-going man who continually attempts to please his demanding wife (unseen) and revels in his seven unseen children.
As tourist guide, he sets the island in its geographical context, and, in a few deft strokes, paints its social life via a series of dances, which are superb (he is a former artist with Scottish Ballet). The music soundtrack by Rhami Mahabir-Stokes is excellent.
On the surface, this a simple quiet show, but that is deceptive: historical and contemporary references abound – the couple of letters Pons receives are delivered by a crackling voiceover redolent of Second World War morse code, there’s a reference to Homes Under the Hammer.
Traditional life in Elba continues on its sleepy way and what up to now looks like a solo performance is shattered by the sudden appearance of Napoleon Bonaparte, played with aplomb by Constant Vizier.
Bonaparte is a stiff, distant, slightly cartoonish character, and a man full of promise… lots of promises; he will make the island great again through various curious schemes (the quirky rap-based song ‘Make Elba Great Again’), including reviving its economy with honey (a gently hilarious bee-dance as he and Pons attempt to fend off a swarm) and transforming a local derelict building into a wonderful palace.
None of these plans succeed: the proceeds always up in his pocket – get the parallels?. Slowly the show which initially has the flavour of a child acting out a story moves into absurdist drama. There’s a curious chess match, (echoes of Bergman’s film The Seventh Seal) which degenerates into a battle before Bonaparte disappears to lead a failed attempt to retake France. This leaves Pons with his wife and seven (or was it eight?) children and a return to his job as tour guide for Elba whose fame, ironically, rests on Bonaparte.
This show exemplifies the spirit of the Fringe. The performances are excellent. It’s fun. Its apparent simplicity cloaks a great depth.
It demands a bigger audience than the small group which was there when I saw it. Thoroughly recommended.
James Bryce
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