Cutting the Tightrope
★★★☆☆ Politically charged
Church Hill Theatre (EIF): Thurs 14 – Sun 17 Aug 2025
Review by Hugh Simpson
Dealing with censorship and artistic freedom, Cutting The Tightrope at the Church Hill for four performances as part of the International Festival, is an honest and fearless production whose approach is not wholly successful.
A series of short plays deal head-on with Gaza and the unwillingness of theatre to confront political issues. The production originated as a direct response to Arts Council England’s threat to remove funding from any theatre that made ‘overtly political or activist statements’.
A scene from Cutting the Tightrope. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
The segments are written by Hassan Abdulrazzak, Mojisola Adebayo, Zia Ahmed, Philip Arditti, Nina Bowers, Roxy Cook, Ed Edwards, Waleed Elgadi, Dawn King, Ahmed Masoud, Joel Samuels and Sami Abu Wardeh. The authorship of each individual play has deliberately been left anonymous in order to safeguard the writers.
Elgadi and Samuels are also performers, along with Issam Al Ghussain, Omar Bynon, Ruth Lass, Sara Masry, Mark Oosterveen and Witney White. The production is directed by Cressida Brown and Kirsty Housley.
Unsurprisingly with such a large number of writers, there is a wide variation in tone, form and quality. Melancholy and personal pieces rub shoulders with angry monologues and comedy.
a relentless focus
There are some extremely successful moments, with Elgadi’s portrayal of a flower seller heartbreakingly sad, and Bynon’s closing monologue having a rare urgency. The other cast members are also very good, with Lass and Masry standing out in a variety of roles. Benny Goodman’s lighting and Ed Lewis’s sound help give the whole thing a relentless focus that the disparate pieces might otherwise lack.
A scene from Cutting the Tightrope. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
The plays do not solely deal with Palestine. Other conflicts, racism and the legacy of colonialism are also explored and one of the strongest pieces deals with the silencing of female voices.
It isn’t all successful, by any means. There are sketches that would not be out of place in a student revue, where they might perhaps also be considerably tighter. Having two pieces about playwrights so early on is also a strange choice; the subject matter is intriguing, but they rely too much on inside theatre knowledge to fully convince.
help to anchor the production
Some other pieces rely too much on the audience already being onside with the opinions they contain, rather than giving cause to think again. There are, of course, huge dangers in preaching to the converted. Even if you agree with a production’s politics, that doesn’t automatically make it successful.
Facts and figures are projected behind the actors in between scenes; these, like the obvious topical and Edinburgh-specific rewriting that has gone on in places, help to anchor the production but also drag it out.
A scene from Cutting the Tightrope. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
The reminders that it is part of the EIF clash with the mentions of the specifically English context of the show’s genesis. While the ongoing controversies about the EIF’s role and funding are referenced, much of the rest has a peculiarly English focus.
And it is clear that the whole thing goes on too long. More of the audience would be liable to stay for the post-show discussion (which follows on without a break), even in a ridiculously stuffy Church Hill Theatre, had the performance not already gone on half an hour longer than was advertised.
This may seem a trivial point in the face of the nature of what is being confronted on stage. And while it is certainly true that there are urgent matters being discussed, if something is presented as theatre, it must be judged as such.
While there is much craft, and huge amounts of righteous anger, the uneven, patchy nature of the production means its impact is diluted.
Running time: Two hours and 30 minutes including one interval. All performances are then immediately followed by a post-show talk (of approximately 30 minutes).
Church Hill Theatre, 33 Morningside Rd, EH10 4DR.
Thursday 14 – Sunday 17 August 2025.
Daily: 7.30 pm.
Tickets and details: Book here with the EIF.
A scene from Cutting the Tightrope. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
ENDS
