ECHO – Every Cold Hearted Oxygen

With his powerfully emotional performance piece ECHO, writer Nassim Soleimanpour presents something of a quandary to the reviewer. There is no program, no explanatory notes, plot precis or tagline. One new actor is chosen every night to perform only once. He or she has been kept deliberately away from discovering anything about the show. This secrecy is important because it means that there is as little as possible artifice in the reactions of both the actor and the viewers. But it does leave the question of how much to say here in this review without ruining the effect.

I think I can get away with saying that the show extends aspects of poetry to visual and interactive media. Nassim Soleimanpour uses all the dreaminess, nested layers of meaning, ambiguity and beauty of expression of poetry, along with some misdirection and other tricks borrowed from magic. The lines between reality, imagination, perception, dream and memory are blurred. Sleight of hand takes the audience to unexpected places, who are left not quite sure of what has happened.

Nassim is beamed into the show live from his apartment in Berlin to interact with the chosen actor, who on our night was Fayssal Bazzi. Their spontaneous discussion meandered around their similar experiences as migrants before moving into an exploration of Nassim’s life and memories. When we first meet Nassim as a far larger than life face projected onto a screen, we see him at face value—a pleasant, hospitable, friendly man. But later we are invited into his world and learn some of the unique perspective and tragedy he carries with him.

And there I have to stop so as not to give too much more away. This deeply personal, poetic theatre was surprising, raw, honest, brutal, sad, and incredibly moving. While parts are heartbreaking, the message is ultimately hopeful.

Cathy Bannister