Writer: Pearl Ada
Director: Catherine Mieses
Returning to the Etcetera Theatre following a run at the Camden Fringe in the summer, Pearl Ada’s Fragments is a complex piece blending memory and philosophical reflections on Black identities that have been assumed, inherited and imposed. For her narrator-protagonist, Ifemelu, none of those external concepts seem right as she speaks of ancestry, ‘fitting in’ and the legacies of British colonialism. A sometimes too abstract piece, Fragments starts to lose traction as the introduction of the speaker’s father struggles for a conclusion.
Ifemelu eventually asks, “Was there ever a time I was enough?” and Ada’s show considers the building blocks of self, community, national and racial identities that have run through the body of the character. It begins with a description of growing up in southern Nigeria and the impact of genocide on the safety of Ifemelu on her way to school. Staged as a jaunty dance, Ada performs this in childlike style, the lightness of her tone contrasting with the reality of living under military occupation.
But Ada expands this stream of consciousness to think about other forms of physical and congenital pain as the protagonist moves fluidly between home and abroad in a search for understanding and finding no clarity in either. Although it is very intangible at times, Fragments is strongest when Ifemelu speaks about the ways others see her, including personal comments by a housemate that typify British and American stereotypes, while in Nigeria she is also categorised by traits beyond her control; in distant lands, Ifemelu explains, “I am Black and a woman,” while closer to home she is “loud and a woman.”
Fragments sometimes suffers through its choice of form, and the poetry element feels like something to be explored in writing so we can pore over the imagery, meanings and fluidity of the text. Spoken, it doesn’t quite take on a theatrical presence, and it is not always easy to follow the changes of pace and direction, although spoken with meaning by Ada. Later, the dialogue with Ifemelu’s father (Cederic Dumornay) particularly starts to feel sticky as he claims credit for her existence, while Ifemelu blames him for failures that she has inherited. The taking on and defeat of a parent has Greek Tragedy qualities, but the audience has learned too little about her family to really understand why her father is the symbol of ancestral failure.
In some sense, Fragments needs more physicality, a more grounded understanding of the contrasting environments in Africa and (presumably) Europe that drive feelings of disconnection. Ada’s ideas about emerging through a colonial legacy that is separate from slavery – “same crime, same criminal” – is a really interesting one and digging deeper into the identities that are created for Ifemelu as well as her continued need to put on a show and smile to make it alright for everyone else would strengthen this piece.
Runs until 17 November 2024
