EIF Review: Ihsane

At the Edinburgh International Festival, Ihsane emerges like a mirage – glittering, fragrant, full of promise, yet ultimately dissolving just as one tries to understand it. It offers a world of exquisite detail, a sensory atlas of Morocco rendered with fascination, but its dramaturgical compass spins, leaving the audience wandering through beauty without a clear path. So writes Alena Shmakova for theQR.co.uk…

Visually and aurally, the production is a striking feast for the senses. Set designer Amine Amharech brings Moroccan culture to life through an impressive gold-decorated arched door frame, intricately cut lanterns, patterned brass trays, shiny silver teapots, and multicoloured traditional rugs. Integrated alongside video designer Maxime Guislain’s projections and live videography, the staging folds time in on itself, capturing moments that hover between living painful reality and the ethereal beauty of Arabic design.

Aurally, the performance reaches transcendent heights. Under the musical direction of Jasser Haj Youssef, a modest ensemble expands through masterclass sound design into an all-encompassing soundscape. Vocalist Fadia Tomb El-Hage’s magnificent performance anchors the piece with profound emotional gravity; her voice carries the weight of centuries, penetrating straight to the heart.

The production’s choreography offers a mix of powerful metaphors. A sequence featuring dancers wrapped in heavy carpets presents a compelling reflection on cultural inheritance: does heritage support us, or entangle us in stereotypes? Equally memorable is the quiet devastation of the finale, where a dancer vanishes beneath a rug, leaving behind a human silhouette formed entirely from falling sand. Elsewhere, the sharp juxtaposition of a merry tea ceremony set against the brutal slaughter of a sheep delivers a visceral moment of recognition – possibly offering an unexpected bridge for a British audience familiar with its own pastoral and shepherdry traditions.

Sensory Splendour Meets Narrative Elusiveness

Yet for all its sensory splendour, the narrative remains elusive. Ihsane frames itself as a meditative journey through grief and identity, but its metaphors accumulate like fog, obscuring rather than illuminating.

The opening Arabic lesson feels unlooked-for. Comparison between different languages is too simplistic. Spoken-word intermezzos drift between the shallow territory of tabloid psychology and amateurish comedy. Most annoyingly, the absence of song translations turns the vocal brilliance into pure ornament – beautiful, yes, but stripped of narrative agency.

“Yet for all its sensory splendour, the narrative remains elusive. Ihsane frames itself as a meditative journey through grief and identity, but its metaphors accumulate like fog, obscuring rather than illuminating.“

The piece was catalysed by the tragic 2012 murder of Ihsane Jarfi, a young gay Moroccan-Belgian man whose death forced Cherkaoui to confront the Arab heritage he had spent a lifetime fleeing. Yet despite images of this tragedy weaving throughout the entire 100-minute performance, the central conflict surrounding queer identity and homophobia feels pushed and oddly alien and unresolved.

Artists who inhabit dual heritages often carry a rare gift: the ability to translate worlds for one another. Ihsane clearly cherishes Moroccan culture, tending to it with reverence and aesthetic finesse. But its structural opacity and linguistic barriers keep the audience outside the door. Morocco, here, remains a shimmering black box – admired from the outside, but never fully opened.

Featured Image: EIF Review: Ihsane – Ihsane-18-08-26_©JessShurte_252-scaled