There is only so much an eight-year-old girl can do in times of crisis to mitigate the chaos caused by those meant to take care of her. Samia Rida shared her experience in a powerful one-woman show that freezes you in your tracks.
In a poetic testimony of her childhood, Rida recollects the tumultuous components that prompted her father kidnapping her and her two siblings to Saudi Arabia. Discussing themes of domestic violence, caring for her disabled brother, and the failures of multiculturalism, she leads to audience to divulge in her perspective as an adult in reflection.
Fluttering in comedic reprise from the severity of the show, Rida connects with the viewers, inviting them into the story. Anecdotes of the individuality of her experiences is communicated with eloquence and passion. Although at points the timing of the present versus the past is lost, by the last line every component within the show is resolved.
Kidnap revisits Rida’s girlhood through the mature lens to reconcile with her own fate. And if you didn’t know, kidnapping can involve a swimming pool.
It’s hard to believe a performance of a singular woman, a chair, and a spotlight can have you hanging onto every word, yet Rida’s cadence proves captivating. It’s unique and independent in production, with lighting utilized as an indicator of thematic transitions.
If anyone is looking to broaden their perspective on the intersection of conflict and culture in adolescent development, Rida delivers an impressionable performance through her own experience.
Samia Rida: Kidnap is running until 10 August at 19:15 at the Dram in Gilded Balloon Patter House.
Buy tickets here.
Image courtesy of Liv Lindsay, provided to The Student as press material.