Family Honour @ Sadler’s Wells Review

We take on traditions that are generations deep, without question, following on from what has gone before. Our ancestors themselves onlookers to structures followed, these deeply ingrained and therefore hard to challenge and break. An exploration of family trauma throughout the generations, confrontations and the interpretation of faith, Kwame Asafo-Adjei presents Family Honour, an opportunity to examine the many behaviours and structures that go unquestioned and simply observe them.

Rewinding back throughout the centuries, Family Honour observes the interactions that occur between a couple, Catrina Nisbett and Stefano A. Addae who communicate mainly through swift whoosh sounds and sharp and slick locking sequences – interlocking with one another yet simultaneously clashing too. This energetically generating a simmering tension, and also an atmosphere of mystique which sets a tense undertone. Situated mainly around an intimate dining table, confrontations are placed centre stage and laid bare, miscommunications prevalent, no middle ground ever truly established. It’s made clear the man’s word is the overriding force. Adjei a quiet overlooking force, a bystander of what currently plays out.

Religious sound bites breaking up the predominantly quieter dynamic, we see how a community turn to the words of scripture to tap into something more powerful and greater, religious leaders a source of hope and salvation. We see what was, yet still continues to be, a young girl’s subtle attempt at breaking away from tradition and disrupting the intoxicating patterns established before her, a profound spoken word piece exploring this further and one that also has her look inward. Family Honour a gripping dance work placing the unspoken under the microscope and making one ponder traditions further.

Written by Lucy Basaba.

Family Honour was shown from Wednesday 14th until Thursday 15th September at Sadler’s Wells. To find out more about the production, visit here…

Written by Theatrefullstop