Zuzana Spacirova’s debut play Runaway, in which she is the solo performer, returned to the capital for a short run last week.
Directed by Oettie Devriese, Runaway is about an immigrant arriving in London. It explores themes of home, belonging, and finding your identity as a foreigner in a big city.
When Diana takes a cheap flight to London from somewhere in Europe, she expects to find friends, a job, a house, and romance.
As a 20-something always on the go, she makes lots of transitory acquaintances but nothing concrete. However Spacitova’s whistle-stop script keeps things both reflective and optimistic.
So what if you are standing on the wrong side of the escalator? So what if the person she speaks to the most is the voice on the Tesco checkout machine?
In the search for ‘home’ and British people Diana travels through cafes, shops, and auditions. She’s spot on about people who work in offices – just what do they do? She watches people with a knowing and curious eye.
Spacitova is a very confident solo performer, utilising physical comedy alongside a confessional manner and a quirky vulnerability. You can’t help but root for her, whatever she is looking for.
Running at just over an hour, Runaway returned to London as part of this year’s Voila! Festival, and I reviewed the 9 Nov livestream from The Space.
As a recording, the sound was rather echoing, but there were no issues with clarity, and visual angles were varied and captured well.
***.5
The Voila! Festival, ‘connecting border-busting theatre to citizens of everywhere’,continues to the 24 November at venues across London. For more details go here.