Utopia, Amir Musavi ·
The Blue Room Theatre,10 November 2022 ·

Utopia is an outstanding presentation of contemporary, political absurdist theatre, and the Australian debut of Afghan playwright, director and actor Amir Musavi’s work.

Physical ensemble storytelling reveals a fragmented world, that perpetually loops attempts to seek freedom from war in a mythically utopic Australia. Utopia explores these traumas by reclaiming them in imaginative ways, transforming cycles of violence into fleeting, ridiculous sketches.

The extraordinary care, labour and intention behind Utopia is evident in the success of its absurdist dramaturgy. With simple but witty props, the performers create a mesmerising tussle between competing energies and stories, each element strengthening the work.

Every moment felt so present, tight and convincing that I couldn’t take my eyes off the stage.

The set is Musavi’s design; a makeshift barbed wire fence borders the studio stage, and murky plastic sheets over the ceiling and back walls add depth and movement. In one corner, a modest fish tank becomes a variable metaphor for oceans, childishness, power and loss.

The show is primarily lit by a few audience members holding small torches – an ingenious exploration of complicity (also designed by Musavi). Dynamic shadows and unpredictable spotlights heighten the action onstage, as anxieties about who to grant visibility affect the story and its audience from offstage.

Performer Shirley Van Sanden opens the play in the theatre bar, at once captivating, pensive and forthright. Welcoming the audience into a war-like landscape, Van Sanden’s safe and knowing presence is an asset to the work. Rhianna Abu Lashin brings wonder and hope; as the youngest cast member (16) she gently and vividly characterises a regeneration of women’s freedom work.

Combining confidence and sensitivity, Sreekanth Gopalakrishnan plays multiple roles. His characters are skilfully comedic, conveying complex messages with ease and zest. Adil Abdelmagid’s noteworthy acting debut brings caring innocence to the show’s absurdity. In outlandish scenes, he is a rock of humility.

Kundai Walter Gotore is a sincere, self-aware, and quietly powerful presence, and Cloe Heal is brisk and candid. Both intensify a range of scenes with nuanced audacity.

Musavi also joins the ensemble in a smooth and compelling performance, while dramaturg and rehearsal director Phil Thomson plays a larrikin, insensitive gatekeeper with chilling restraint.

Though each voice is strong and unique, their synchronicity is unwavering, even through blink-of-an-eye transitions.

Clamorous home raids, weddings and boat failures repeat, and characters assert control over the story by rewriting some details. A nonlinear image of strength and self-awareness builds over time, showing many layers of agency that I found grounding and cathartic to witness.

Shows like this can be life-changing for refugee and migrant communities, to process our personal or inherited stories, and relieve the pressures of suppressing them in accordance with Australia’s colonial norms.

The team’s courage to caricature the impacts of war in marginalised communities, return the gaze on Australia’s media, and represent refugee journeys as an absurdist landscape defies the expectations – of both ethnic communities and Anglo-Australians – that the enormity of these stories be minimised.

What also impressed me about Utopia, was that many of its stars hail from “non-professional” backgrounds in community theatre and multicultural outer suburbs.

Considering the years migrant artists have dedicated to shifting the theatre sector’s prejudices toward our communities, I was deeply moved to see an example of how this advocacy is finally paying off. Utopia’s peer-led, community-based process challenges many industry conventions that privilege inner-city, white and Australian-born artists — adding to this show’s triumphs of thoughtful resistance.

Utopia thoroughly and wisely considers the value of political art, in a cultural landscape that systematically devalues genuine intentions to speak truth.

Following its success at The Blue Room Theatre, I have no doubt Utopia will remain a seminal work for years to come, as more artists of refugee experience and heritage shake up local independent theatres in its legacy.

Utopia continues at The Blue Room Theatre until 19 November 2022.

Pictured top are Kundai Walter Gotore and Cloe Heal in ‘Utopia’. Photo: Linda Renae