Should we remain in the wounds of the past or move on? As Long As We Are Breathing is written by Diane Samuels and directed by Ben Caplan, based on the real-life experiences of Miriam Freedman, that takes the audience along with her memories, following her words to understand what it was like for her to survive from the Holocaust.
The story begins and ends in a cosy yoga classroom. With the meditation, we gradually delve into Miriam's memories, starting with the most everyday thing - breathing. These memories are usually fragmented, some about her childhood encounters with children with different eye colours, some about her dreams, and some about the loss of family members. There are very few direct descriptions of Nazi atrocities in her words, and often, she reflects on the world as seen through the eyes of a small child.
What makes this play special is that there is not just one Miriam in the play, but two. One is Miriam in her older years, and the other is the girl she used to be, known as Eva - that's what people call her most of the time. Miriam usually appears as the narrator, looking back at bits and pieces of the past from the perspective of the present moment, while Eva more often presents a direct view of those moments. Caroline Gruber has a kind and calm energy as Miriam. Her moods seldom fluctuate dramatically, but it's very easy and natural to follow along with what she's describing with her peaceful words. Zoe Goriely's Eva is very vibrant, and of Eva from the age of six to middle age, the childhood Eva is particularly brought to life by her performance. Amid the incoherent content, her emotions can surge up all at once, bringing the audience into the emotions she is feeling.
Once you enter the theatre, you are in Miriam's yoga studio. The stage is sprinkled with warm yellowish light (Tom Turner), and Eva is lying on a yoga mat in the centre of the stage. Behind her, there is a wooden brown cabinet with a photograph, a Buddha statue, and flowers in a vase, and there is a chair on each side of the stage (Isabella Van Braeckel). On the light cloth hanging at the back of the stage, pictures of Miriam's past are reflected. As she narrates, the images on it change (Douglas Baker). Music accompanies the entire production almost constantly, naturally bringing the audience into the mood of the moment. Musician Matthew James Hinchliffe is seated in the chair on stage right, playing clarinet, tongue drum, meditation bowl and accordion. There is always a touch of nostalgia in the music with a hint of melancholy. Not only as a musician but he is often involved in Miriam and Eva's memories, as if he were also a part of them.
In this play, Miriam and Eva are always interacting with the audience. Sometimes, the audience is part of the yoga class, invited by Miriam to meditate with her; sometimes, the audience is the ‘blue-eyed child’, the one that Eva wanted to reach out to in her childhood but was not able to; sometimes, the audience is really the spectator who listens to the speech that Miriam and Eva are giving together. These interactions are all very natural and make the environment more immersive.
After recalling these memory fragments, both Miriam and Eva choose to progress instead of regressing. After making this decision, they embrace and reconcile themselves with their past and the future that has been shaped by their past. This work is more like a self-talk than a complete story. Because most of the time the past is shown through words, there are times when it is slightly difficult to show the heaviness of emotions that these events carry, and it is still a little away from being a story that strikes people from the bottom of their hearts, even though it has the full potential to do so. However, if the goal of this work is simply to heal the wounds of the past, then it has certainly achieved its mission.
As Long As We Are Breathing runs at Arcola Theatre until 1st March 2025.
★★★☆☆ (3*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Lidia Crisafulli
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