A one-woman show with a compelling first sequence, People seems to have something to say about humanity, war, and learned habits of hatred and distrust.
Anna Manuelli brings a catalogue of women to the stage, with different timelines but the same searching questions. It’s a brave and intimate solo work.
Across four scenes (some with a family connection, others more random), People delves beneath the complexities of warfare and the need humans have to form alliances and exclusions through wealth or ideology.
Emphasing that whichever side we are on, we all have the same face (literally in this case), Manuelli makes brief costume changes between scenes and delivers four diverse monologues.
Despite People feeling relevant with the situations in Russia/Ukraine and Israel/Palestine, the play did lose steam as it progressed, perhaps without that clear thread between the characters.
Scenes one and two were clearly linked as the build-up and climax to the first had consequences for the second. These emphasised the problems in searching for peace: even what that word may mean.
There’s a deeper play within the surface of People, one that fleshes out the characters and their motivations. A recurring motif about being shot in the head fizzles out by the end but could be teased out more.
The performance is absolutely fine, whether as the woman who rages against the obliteration of her village, or the influencer who closes the play. It’s the pacing and the plotting that loses a little steam along the way.
People has the potential to grow into a thoughtfully dynamic piece of work but at the moment its threads don’t quite knit together, losing an emotional core we can connect to.
2.5 stars.
People has completed its run at Camden Fringe, but you can follow Anna Manuelli on Instagram for further updates.