Review: SLOW DEATH OF A LOTUS FLOWER, Etcetera Theatre

The pandemic - and perhaps Brexit - threw a spanner in the works of the steady ascent of smaller-scale European theatre in London. In The Before Times it was very easy to find these types of shows in dark rooms above pubs all across town.

Now that everything is starting again, it's great to see that they're reappearing and international companies are back staging their peculiar genres. We need them on the scene, they're corridors that lead to the variety of disciplines and points of view found on the mainland. British theatre can feel like an island.

Slow Death of a Lotus Flower belongs to that cool crew. It's an eccentric, weird, oneiric piece that brings up compelling themes and arguments. Benedetta Scuto writes and directs emotions rather than actions. Maria (Clio Carrara) minds the wardrobe of a hotel where the presentation of a new book is taking place. As people come and go leaving their jackets, we're introduced to a unique line-up of characters.

A non-binary trans person who sells dreams (Matisse Ciel Pagès), a life coach (Marco Teixeira), a man stuck in the pages of Dostoevsky and trapped into a cycle of unhappiness (Louis Cruzat), and two very different English women (Meghan Mabli and Amy Rushent) come into the room and due to some invisible force argue, confess, and have epiphanies of their own.

While the foundations of the play are slightly askew and the premise is a bit unsteady, Scuto is certainly onto something and an exceptionally promising young director. Her vision combines with Emilie Largier's movement direction to deliver enthralling choral scenes. A brief revision and some more TLC to parts that can be expanded might turn Lotus Flower into a thorough exploration of human nature and the dissociation we feel between who we are and who we think we should be.

Slow Death of a Lotus Flower runs at the Etcetera Theatre until 14 August as part of Camden Fringe.

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