ED2011 3/5 Reviews ED2011 Theatre Reviews

Fit For Purpose (Pleasance / End Child Detention Now)

By | Published on Tuesday 16 August 2011

The detention of children by the UK Border Agency is abhorrent; many of the staff involved have an outlook borrowed from the Daily Mail, and those who try to help are often ill-equipped and over-worked. Catherine O’Shea’s meticulously researched play sheds light on these known but ignored problems. Centring on the 2010 hunger strike in Yarl’s Wood, the cast of ‘Fit For Purpose’ deliver some varying performances. Antoinette Tagoe, however, has incredible stage presence and is very believable as Aruna, a Somali mother afraid to look into her horrific past, apathetic towards her cruel present. Though at times the script strays into over-wordiness, and the staging is uninspired, it is hard to truly criticise a play so clearly worthy of attention.

Pleasance Courtyard, 3 – 29 Aug (not 15), 12.45pm (1.45pm), £7.00 – £9.00, fpp263.
tw rating 3/5
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