EdFringe Review: Reparations

The desire to reinvent oneself is a potent theatrical engine. In Reparations, Maryam Garad takes this impulse and uses it to power a thrilling psychological monologue.

We meet Aisha, a young shoplifter fresh from a prison stint, returning to her London council estate and seeking a clean slate. Her path quickly intersects with the lucrative world of internet fame. Soon, Aisha fixates on V, a wealthy, privileged wellness influencer. However, what begins as passing admiration rapidly curdles into a consuming obsession; Aisha decides she must steal V’s life to escape her own. This choice transforms a story of unsteady rehabilitation into a sharp, modern thriller. Along the way, Garad delivers a biting jibe at influencer vacuousness.

The script clearly earned its recent accolades for very good reason. Reparations takes place firmly in the shadow of class and race inequalities. It accepts that disadvantage creates fertile ground for jealousy and blind ambition. However, the play’s true strength lies in avoiding heavy-handed preaching. It never uses systemic inequality as a blanket excuse for bad behaviour. Instead, it focuses intently on the flawed, individual human being at its core. Aisha is fully capable of making bad, deeply unethical choices: she chooses to manipulate those around her for personal gain. The result is a refreshing, highly nuanced take on a familiar fringe topic. Audiences are forced to grapple with a genuinely complicated protagonist, disadvantaged by a broken social contract, but still morally culpable.

Precise Pacing and Character Control

Garad’s execution on the Pleasance stage is exceptional. She never rushes her delivery, allowing the dense text room to breathe, but never letting the pace falter. She lingers over crucial emotional moments exactly where they are needed, but proves equally skilled at dispensing with unnecessary fluff. Her characterisations are strong and distinct throughout the hour, populating the mostly empty stage using simple, clever physical motifs. Alongside subtle shifts in accent, she creates a recognisable cast of supporting players.

Her raw, oddly likeable, but unfiltered performance commands attention from start to finish. It’s tricky to realise that such an unreliable narrator is lying without signposting her lies, but Garad gets the balance just right. The mystery of just what is happening, and what will happen, adds an extra frisson to Aisha’s fraught memoir.

“The desire to reinvent oneself is a potent theatrical engine. In Reparations, Maryam Garad takes this impulse and uses it to power a thrilling psychological monologue.“

The plot will ultimately prove entirely satisfactory when all is revealed, though there are a couple of points that feel more convenient than believable. I, personally, don’t believe the close friend Aisha steals an idea from wouldn’t have exposed her much, much sooner, but playwrights have been guilty of worse. Indeed, whilst Garad is working on a filmed adaptation of the piece, I think it would make a particularly strong radio drama.

Ultimately, Reparations stands as a bold, rather thrilling one-person play. Garad tackles heavy, complex themes with a light and precise touch. By centring personal responsibility in the shadow of societal injustices, she delivers something fresh. Hope, she seems to say, may be hard to find, but it begins with making better choices and appreciating the people you have, rather than the things you do not.