Anthem

Katie Greenall and Bush Young Company have created an effective and collective issue-based anthology with Anthem. Working with a simple theme, “Party,” the company has extracted smaller movements, including music and song, poetry, dance, and protest.

When I first walked into the show, my inner grandma persona was jolted. All of my memories of house parties have been mostly negative. Theatre, being one of the few places I can unwind, relax, and be fully immersed, was temporarily upended. But the Young Company very quickly eased my mind. Maryam Garad, for instance, delivers a touching speech, lamenting on the fact that she can’t help swimming in her own pool of emotion in these situations. From here on out, I was hooked. The audience was given a front row seat to what is really on young people’s minds today. I won’t lie: as a 25 year old, I did somewhat find myself half-seeing, half-not seeing some of what was being discussed. Nevertheless, I was able to fully hook myself into each narrative, and that’s truly all that is required for a tremendous theatrical experience.

Each company member’s speech raised a specific inner-conflict— all of which we never say aloud and most of which we seldom think about. Questions of identity and faith, of surviving versus thriving, of the natural order of things, and how this might connect to our current socio-economic position— these were just some of the interesting relationships that were teased out through the lens of these young storytellers. At moments, it edges a little too close to GCSE Drama, but this is to be expected in this particular experiment. At one point, for instance, the ensemble asks us to check the screen time on our phones. They then ask what we’re actually doing, besides just posting a black square to social media. I connect with this, but I also somewhat roll my eyes because this is a conversation we all had two years ago. And it’s something I personally think about every day, finding myself paralyzed by the very concept of social media activism.

In fact, many of the topics discussed were paralyzing to me. Some I couldn’t even begin to comprehend. But this is precisely the point of issue-based theatre: it brings you moments of comfort and joy coupled with moments of uncomfortableness and sorrow. Anthem tries its best to find little moments of happiness, jubilation, and celebration within that sometimes all-encompassing despair.

Anthem is playing at The Bush Theatre until 27 August 2022.