Voila! Europe 2021

Returning to the Cockpit Theatre after a year interrupted by the pandemic, the multilingual theatre festival Voila! Europe once again showcases a wide array of independent European artists.

This is an essential festival, platforming emerging artists and theatre that might be considered too political or uncomfortable for bigger venues – a shame, as the quality of performances means the shows are worthy of larger audiences.

Unforgettable Girl (★★★★★) is a standout show that keeps the audience at the midpoint between laughter, discomfort and horror. Elisabeth Gunawan captivates as Vaccine, an East Asian mail-order bride, a “cure for loneliness” who can be purchased for a price “not much more expensive than Netflix”. Gunawan’s ability to shepherd the audience through early discomfort is matched only in the delicious way she leaves them stranded when doing a pastiche of toxic white feminism, at one point asking: “Who enjoys being white?”

The point of this awkwardness is to force the audience to question its own blind spots, conceptions of comedy and the very real threat of unchecked consumer capitalism. In highlighting the juxtaposition between those in the West who believe that everything – including humans – can be purchased, and the unspoken trauma of being viewed as a commodity, Unforgettable Girl leaves an indelible mark on its audience.

The beauty of this festival is that a show like Unforgettable Girl can be part of the same programme as RadioLove (★★★), an absurd show from Finland’s Studio Total in which radio presenter Janis (Tuomas Kiiliainen) hosts a show to which lonely people call in and talk about love. It is a strangely captivating show: what stands out is the way Janis juggles going through his own uncommunicable experiences while the callers struggle to express what love and loneliness means to them. On a sparse stage, the excellent lighting and audio enhances the dream-like state that makes it difficult to discern what is real or imagined.

Are You Done? (★★★) is a very topical piece in which Francasixiə (Francesco Bentivegna) follows commands from a computerised voice. The twist is that the commands have been given by the audience via a preshow survey and interview. The performance takes place in a stultifying room, and as Francasixiə is asked to pick his nose, talk to skulls as if he is Hamlet and say that Palestine should be free, it is clear that this is a piece rooted in the claustrophobia and loneliness that the lockdown wrought.

The more orders are followed, the more the voice becomes an almost comforting presence. This is teased out in the silences when Francasixiə sits in his too-small room, waiting for something – anything – to happen. It is a piece that many will be able to empathise with.