Creators: Selina Hsung-Chih Tseng and Abhisikta Dasgupta
Between Strands begins well with Selina Hsung-Chih Tseng kneeling in prayer as the audience enters. When the lights go down, she performs two elegant bows to remember her grandmother, who died 15 months earlier. Really, following the traditions in Taiwan, she should perform three bows, but she’s not ready to let go of her grandmother yet. It’s a strong start, but there’s not enough material to fill in the next 60 minutes.
Taking us back in time, Tseng introduces us to herself as a toddler, playing with her grandmother, who tells her that she should always comb her hair and reveal her forehead. But rather than acting as a child – and as an increasingly childlike grandmother – it would be better if these stories were narrated by Tseng in the present. This tactic would remove the always troublesome task – for actor and audience alike – of adults pretending to be children.
Many of the memories represented lack dramatic purpose, and some scenes outstay their welcome quite rapidly. The story is often stagnant, even if the play does come from a place of truth and love. The extended conversations between grandmother and granddaughter often feel like padding to make up the running time.
More successful are the movement sections directed by Nefeli Varouxi to Tali Nishihara Jones’s sparse piano music. One segment involves some stunning shadow play. The music choices here allude to a sense of isolation as Tseng’s character moves to London to study, but again these parts could help to push the story along.
Tseng is an expressive and calm presence on stage, but she is in need of a stronger play here, or perhaps it could be cut down to 30 minutes and be part of a double bill of shows that deal with unresolved grief.
Runs until 9 August 2026
Camden Fringe 2026 runs until 30 August
