"Stirring ensemble theater piece...Not so much a protest play, as it is a play about a protest, and that distinction is what it gives this docudrama its arresting complexity...That each cast member is such a compellingly specific presence is a blessing and a necessity...The rushing momentum of what happened, both scary and exhilarating, is most evocatively conjured by the details of first-person reminiscence...There is an infectious, heady joy in such scenes."
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"There's nothing naive or immature about this rousing piece of political theater. Instead, this collective work exudes the kind of nuance and wisdom born from difficult personal experience...The kind of mature, clear-eyed hindsight that is the mark of promising young artists...Ultimately, it's that sense of blazing passion that one is left with in 'The Fall'...'The Fall' stands as a stirring testament to their adaptability and fortitude, with lessons that deserve to be heard."
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"The student is the future in this powerful piece of social justice theatre...Its brutal honesty holds up a mirror that both reflects and amplifies its source. This exceedingly well-made devised piece revolves around the events during and after the Rhodes Must Fall movement in South Africa...Though experimental in nature, the piece never ventures into obscurity...The value of 'The Fall' lies in its ability to expand our existing understanding of activism."
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"It's a vivid account...If the subject seems timely, it's because the arguments have spread...If the arguments have become familiar, 'The Fall' pushes on. What happens next?...Told collectively and directly – old-school agit-prop – a lot of 'The Fall's' drama comes from heated debate. Jostling argument does the job of action and, under Clare Stopford's supervision, it covers the bases...Music acts almost as a balm...The songs stand for something in their own right as well."
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"It is one thing to have heard about the Rhodes Must Fall campaign on the news, but it is another to see, hear, feel the story...The arguments are epic and the truths spoken and shouted here send chills down the spine as the students wrestle with being black or mixed race, rich or poor, revolutionaries or pragmatists...Whatever your views, you can feel how authentic it is. These young people, the future of South Africa, are letting us in, telling us their truths, crying for their future...I loved it."
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"The show pulses with life, and with the kind of passionate song and movement first glimpsed on the Edinburgh Fringe more than three decades ago, during the last years of apartheid. What makes 'The Fall' remarkable, though, is its combination of that pure physical energy with a uniquely vital, detailed, and profound political argument about how – so many years on – real decolonization and freedom is to be achieved."
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"Exuberant and thought-provoking...Every molecule of the space of the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs is packed with the energy, enthusiasm, passion, and commitment of the seven strong ensemble. The singing alone is powerful and uplifting, it feels that there are more than seven people on stage, and the movement is exciting and captures perfectly that feeling of protest. The cast are terrific...There is no doubt that the play really connected with its audience."
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"This goes deeper into contemporary South African politics by confronting the divisions over gender, patriarchy, race, and class that split the movement when the statue had come down and the struggle turned to other issues...This begins to roar when the students get to confront and being to understand each other’s own issues...This is a truly ensemble production which has both teeth and heart. And one which stands for student revolt around the world and down the ages."
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