"Amsterdam" Review
โAmsterdamโ Review
"Amsterdam" is a play by Israeli playwright Maya Arad-Yasur that had its debut UK debut in the Orange Tree Theatre last year. The play follows an Israeli violinist in Amsterdam who receives a gas bill that hasn't been paid since the holocaust.
The fractured story dances about as much as the actors themselves and the polyphonic narrative plays out akin to several friends recalling memories together. This messy open form method of conveying the story is quite a challenge to follow for those accustomed to more traditional formats of storytelling. In my opinion I found this storytelling technique to be entertaining for some parts, but difficult to track and quite annoying for other parts, however I do believe that the non-traditional nature of this technique is bold and very healthy for the development of the craft altogether, and I am sure that others would find it very engaging. To be clear, as I personally was not a fan of the storytelling method, I do believe it to be a useful exploration of what can be done within theatre. It is also worth noting the explosive and emotive performances by Dan Abelson, Fiston Barek, Michal Horowicz, and Hara Yannas, who have great chemistry from the first minute, which hooked me into the play, even though it took some time to understand it.
The story itself tells of this pregnant Jewish woman living her life and trying to find closure regarding the ominous gas bill that reveals a lot about the history of the Netherlands and its relation to the Jewish community and the Holocaust. Investigating this bill, the nameless violinist attempts to answer the who questions and the why questions and keeps relating the experiences of the past to her own experiences of the present. Over time, as the truth gets closer to being realised, the revelation becomes parallel with the contractions of the Israeli violinist, building tension by setting a ticking clock to find the truth before the birth, which also allows the inner monologue of the woman to fully explore what may have happened as a distraction from the contractions.
In doing research on the play, I found out that Arad-Yasur never takes a stand in her plays, that she never tries to convey a message. This is a statement I personally disagree with on two levels. For one, it feels essentially impossible not to convey a message in a work; for example, the theme of "Amsterdam" is about how Jewish identity, even in progressive countries like the Netherlands, can be the subject of oppressive fascination, which in and of itself is a statement. Secondly, in my opinion I don't quite believe a story should have no message, I believe stories are made more meaningful if they hold a position or are at least asking a question, and that these stories become more useful as a message for its own time during said time as well as a product of its own time.
In conclusion, I loved much of the jumping dialogue and the sprinkles of comedy, as well as the piecing together of the past, however many other parts were difficult for me to follow and many plot threads are simply dropped and there's little cohesion between the thoughts. Overall, I liked the play but found it hard to watch, I would recommend this play to everyone so long as they're aware of the format beforehand, going in blind can lead to confusion for the first two minutes. I recommend everyone to watch to learn more about the techniques available and for them to come to their own conclusions about "Amsterdam" by Maya Arad-Yasur.
