Aalaapi | ᐋᓛᐱ @ Assembly Festival’s Digital Season (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2021) Review

Aalapi – roughly translating as “be silent because what we’re hearing is beautiful” in the Inuktitut language perfectly sums up this production, a celebration of home, family and freedom.

Integrating the power of video projection and the resonance of radio, Aalaapi’s striking visual of a house centre stage embodies a feeling of stability and grounding, action taking place inside the home, a rectangular window, the space in which we view the show. Aalaapi’s tone is sustained and laidback – it values every still, quiet moment, a beautiful quality of the show. Our leads Niap Saunders and Hannah Tooktoo fostering a welcoming energy, the pair our storytellers for the next 80 minutes.

Language plays an important role within the piece, the cast switch from French, to English, to Inuktitut, the native language of Nunavik, situated in the North, where the show is based. The line “a language isn’t just a way to speak, it’s a way to think” meditating on this crucial part of being.

Part drama, part anecdotal piece, Aalaapiexplores themes of culture, heritage, family, generations and the natural world, Le Chant Du Moustique (The Mosquito Song) a lovely inclusion, drawing on tradition with its earthy, grunting quality. Aalaapifeels like a filmed documentary, a gateway into a way of life, the show subtle, meditative yet engaging in tone.

Review written by Lucy Basaba.

Aalaapi | ᐋᓛᐱ was shown from Friday 6th until Monday 30th as part of Assembly Festival’s Digital Season, as part of this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2021. To find out more about the production, visit here…

Written by Theatrefullstop