SPECIAL MUST-SEE SHOW
I saw it yesterday. You must see it. Only 2 performances remain.
Bin Laden: The One Man
Show has played at Fringe Festivals worldwide, most recently in Hollywood.
Sam Redway, a young Englishman, presents the fully ripe show, produced by Knaïve
Theatre. He begins by serving tea to audience members, with or without milk.
Having established ease and likability, he asks us how satisfied we are with
our country (not much) and if we would like to learn how to improve our own
lives by taking a number of steps, which he lists and demonstrates, along with
telling us about his youth, his youthful marriage, fatherhood, and the invasion
of his country, Afghanistan, by Russia.
"My name is Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Aboud bin Laden al Qatani
and tonight, ladies and gentleman, I am going to show you how to change the
world."
Imagine Osama bin Laden as a young father eager to make his
son proud of him, eager to take back his country from oppressors and make it
great again, and you have some idea of the show, which is swept along in the impressive
hands and exceptionally toned body of a mesmerizing, classically trained actor
who specializes in physical theatre and looks more like Adonis than bin Laden.
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| Sam Redway as Bin Laden Courtesy SD Fringe |
The performance – which is the strongest I’ve seen in the
San Diego Fringe, underscores how susceptible and easily recruited even the
slightly dissatisfied are, and helps us understand how persuasive the great
terrorist leader and others like him must have been and still are. Bin Laden’s
humanity is refracted as we see Middle East history from his perspective. The
script is utterly provocative and frightening.
Two performances remain: tonight at 7:30 and tomorrow at
11:30am, Diversionary Black Box, 4545 Park Blvd.
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