Young Vic’s associate company, Crying in the Wilderness Production’s transcendent piece delineates a journey of a tormented and traumatised ‘genius’, as he rummages through his memories to reveal that his past, present and future seem to be perpetually in conflict.
Fidel (Ofoegbu) is an exceptionally gifted man. He opens his proverbial pandora’s box when he reads excerpts from his old diary detailing his past insecurities and self-doubts. He begins to chart his own recovery by confronting these pivotal moments of self-development, his relationship with his mother, a lifetime of unfulfilled potential and society’s determination to suppress his ‘lofty ideas’. We witness his intimate sessions with a therapist and his own difficult self-reflection, and are finally given some solace and a glimmer of hope when Fidel receives a heart-warming call from his father.
Movement director Shane Shambhu’s Bharatanatyam dance expertise seeps into Fidel’s own spiritually physical language on stage, combining mime, meditative sounds and visceral choreography, to bring to life negative self-talk, racial stereotyping and agonising memories. Ofoegbu’s sensitive performance ranges from confusion and helplessness to bitterness and resentment, powering through Fidel’s harrowing memory-journey, accentuated by the effective lighting and set design – minimal yet provocative – a black canvass projected with Fidel’s scribbled thoughts and memories whose edges alight when he is experiencing a searing flashback or a cathartic breakthrough. We are intruders peering into the intimate ruminations of a healing man as the stage becomes an extension of himself, his actual mind.
Conundrum expresses the importance of retracing trauma to heal, doing the Herculean task of confronting it. As Fidel unravels before us in a glorious but petrifying spectacle, we too must become ‘naked, exposed but pure’, otherwise we will be eternally tethered to our own identity and societal machinations. Director Paul Anthony Morris’ instinctual piece leaves audiences with a spiritual and emotional conundrum of their own.
Name of Production | Conundrum
Year of Production | 2022
Venue | Young Vic
Cast | Anthony Ofoegbu, Filip Krenus
Director | Paul Anthony Morris
Associate Director | Angela Ekaette Michaels
Writer | Paul Anthony Morris
Music/Composer | Florian Bel
Set Designer | Sean Cavanaugh
Lighting Designer | Jack Weir
Movement Director | Shane Shambhu
Producers/Production Company | Crying in the Wilderness Productions
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