7th February Didn't quite get the buzz


I know some of you are going to think that I do nothing but spend my evenings watching thespians on stage. It's just like buses, theres none for ages and thene three come along at once. Last night it was the playhouse to watch the Beekeeper of Aleppo, a play all about, you might be astonished to know, a beekeeper in Allepo. Sorry if thats a spoiler alert.

It was a cheap night out at only £8.50 a ticket but at the end of the day I was glad I had only paid £8.50. I'm not sure what is was but I simply didnt engage with the characters and to be honest didnt care whether they reached the UK or not. It was a very professionally done production that made great uses of the single stage set up for various locations, including some very powerful projections on screen. But overall it was sort of 'mweh' and became an exercise in ticking every box for all the obstacles a refugee could encounter on route from Syria (or anywhere else) to the UK

The question it did made me think about was not so much about the current plight of refugees but what what on earth is happening to Syria right now. Apart from the earthquake that had devastated a small part of that country today, what state is the rest of Syria in? Considering that just a few years ago it was all we heard about on our news, it doesn't just appear to have slipped off the front pages but out of our newspapers altogether.

I am sure that the Beekeeper of Aleppo will generate a certain buzz around the city but I for one wasn't really stung by it.



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