Come Out Eli
Using recorded interviews with residents of Hackney's Graham Road - the scene of the longest siege in British history - Alecky Blythe and Judith Johnson have crafted a sparse piece of theatre that positively throbs with the vibrancy of the area in which it plays.
Using MiniDisc players strapped to their waists, the five actors repeat verbatim the words of the neighbours, shopkeepers, bystanders and policemen that are being fed into their ears, covering the differing perspectives on Eli Hall's 16-day stand-off with the police.
Situated in the round and at times directed to individual members of the audience, the real pleasure here is in the dialogue. 'If this was happening in Kensington, they wouldn't let the dogs crap everywhere,' one character asserts after a lengthy debate on the problem of canine cop turds.
It's these moments of unintentional humour, revealing the community's perspective on events, that illustrate better than conventional drama how people perceived and dealt with events, from the opening days through the aftermath seen from a neighbour's window to Blythe's own interview with the hostage.
How much some characters become exaggerated stereotypes remains a secret between the earphones and the actors' ears, but for the most part everyone has something to say, and no matter how nonsensical, it's the nuances, stutterings, 'ums', 'ers', 'innits' and mesh of everyday dialogue that's invigorating to hear on the stage.
Come Out Eli
