Cherry Blossom

Why the title “Cherry Blossom”? The poster at the Traverse Theatre tells all - a tin of shoe Polish. At least, that’s the gloss I put on the current co-production between the Traverse and Teatr Polski Bydgoszcz.

In a bilingual performance, two Scottish actors - John Kazek and Sandy Grierson - and two Polish actors - Marta Scislowicz and Malgorzata Trofimiuk - all take turns at playing the different characters, male sometimes playing female, female sometimes playing male, and language interchangeable. Slightly confused? Uncertain as to what is happening? Good - then you have some idea what it must be like to be a Polish immigrant to Edinburgh surrounded by a wall of incomprehensible sound, and you will begin to understand this play.

This is a very powerful piece of theatre written by Catherine Grosvenor in collaboration with Lorne Campbell, and follows two Polish stories, one real, one imaginary. The real story is very shocking. Almost a year ago, a Polish immigrant to Canada died in Vancouver airport after he had spent more than ten hours trying to clear immigration procedures. His waiting mother had left the airport and he became confused, angry, and disorientated. Resorting to violence, he was shot by police using taser guns, and subsequently died.

The details unfold to us by readings and projections, and using this lost in transit story as a background, we follow the fortunes of an imaginary family, which gradually falls apart after the mother has left Poland to earn money in Edinburgh. She lives in squalor, works in a pig slicing factory, and becomes alienated from her increasingly disturbed son back home. The use of both Polish and English in the play - some but certainly not all with projected translations - means that we rely on the actors for meaning - the nuance of the voice, their gestures.

And these four can certainly act. We listen to a row between the husband and wife conducted in Polish, and know, only too well, what is being said. We see the alienation of the son - turning more and more to Play Station 2 in his mother’s absence - mirroring the alienation felt by his immigrant mother.

Fifty Nine Productions (Mark Grimmer & Leo Warner) have designed a minimalist yet versatile set to project key language and information. After the run at the Traverse, the play transfers to Warsaw and Bydgoszcz, where the language barrier will be English. A most imaginative play about communication, and a superb co-production. This Cherry Blossom certainly shines.

At the Traverse Theatre until October 11th.