The Godless War is a monumental one-person play, citing Homer and Shakespeare as inspirations. Written by and starring Arif Silverman, and directed by Kazeem Akinsaya and Neha Hemachandra, The Godless War is at the Bread and Roses a small but mighty (and thankfully airconditioned, given the 30 degree heat) pub theatre.
The Godless War as a production is no small feat. A solo show, entirely verse spoken, it is clear Silverman is both a highly ambitious writer and performer. Silverman's lyrical writing comes to life when recited aloud, with its frenzied use of fricatives, sibilance, and plosives. As a performer, he often makes eye contact with us, and in one instance interacts directly with audience member; it feels like it crosses the line into university lecture, or the impassioned speech of a politician at times. The Godless war is not just engaging, but you feel almost a sense of responsibility to pay attention to every word uttered, particularly in combination with the intimacy of the venue.
The Godless War is predominately in a narratorial style, which Silverman breaks from to also play the characters of this story. Silverman's energy is unrelenting, feeding into to the idea of an "epic tale" with all lines delivered with such enthusiasm. Although this it what makes the play so captivating initially, I believe it somewhat undermines understanding of the narrative.
One of the things that makes Shakespeare great is knowing when to break verse, or when to fully submit to comic elements. It is about knowing what not to emphasise as much as knowing what to emphasise. If a play is delivered as if all lines are equally important, the narrative becomes muddied, and it becomes quite exhausting for the viewer.
The result in this production is when the more shocking scenes happen, they do not carry quite the weight they should, as they are delivered with the same level of enthusiasm - in no real stylistic contrast to other sections of the play. There is a need for much more light and shade, and still room to greater delve into the depths of emotion. I believe better "signposting" lines of real significance, as well as making the breaks from third person into first (narrator into character) more apparent would help guide the audience through the themes of the play.
Where I think The Godless War attempts to do this best is though its lighting design, music and its highly physical movement coordination, which all helps to compartmentalise scenes somewhat effectively.
The Godless War's most emotionally devastating point, comes at the end of the production, where a "credits roll" is projected, showing a comprehensive list of all wars throughout history. No matter how long you think this list might be, it is longer. The devastation of this moment is so intense, as you are snapped viscerally from fiction into reality. It is this kind of juxtaposition of emotion I would have liked to have seen more throughout the play, as well as a further weaving in the theme of broad devastation of war.
It is clear that there are some great fundamentals here, and I would like to see it evolve into brilliance across it iterations. If this play is like that of works it seeks to emulate, I can imagine finding more value in the second, third, fourth viewing than the first. ★★★☆☆
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