REVIEW: HOW NOT TO DROWN by Nicola McCartney and Dritan Kastrani THEATRE ROYAL, STRATFORD EAST and on tour

‘a theatrical event that feels like a rare privilege’ ★★★★

One of the best things about theatre is the chance to witness lived experiences; personal re-enactments dramatically performed. HOW NOT TO DROWN is a theatrical event that feels like a rare privilege. The story of Dritan Kastrati, an 11-year-old asylum seeker sent alone by his parents to England after the Kosovan War, is compelling.  Described as “an action film for the stage” this story is even more extraordinary because Dritan Kastrani performs himself in the lead role. Were it not for the transformative power of drama, we might never have known this powerful story.

Written and adapted by Nicola McCartney based on interview transcripts with Kastrani over four years, the strong and striking production and direction of this piece by ThickSkin and Traverse Theatre, is immediately evident. A huge wooden raft is the focal point on a starkly lit stage. Some accompanying metal barriers become beds, bunks, barriers, insides of lorries, bottoms of boats. The use of lighting and sound combine to create an immersive experience that never once overwhelm the narrative but draw you into this astounding story and takes you on a journey from the mountains of Kosovo across the Adriatic to Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium and finally England, a place with strange names like Strood and Ilford.

The ensemble of five who take on over thirty roles including Dritan at different parts of his journey and life, give a full-hearted, synchronised performance as we enter the world of a child, ejected from the home he knows because of the dangerous proliferation of guns, drugs and mafia. This story of a plucky child’s courage and fight for survival could be relentlessly grim. But the weightiness of the proposition is lifted by humour, vivid characterisations and quick-fire choreography and movement. The repeated refrain Dritan was told as a child, “You are nothing without family” haunts him and even though for a while he manages to stay with his 17-year-old brother, Alfred who moved to England ahead of him, eventually they are separated by the authorities for Dritan’s own safety.

When he arrives in England unable to speak English, Dritan’s survival skills are tested to the hilt as he negotiates the care system, foster homes, schools and institutional racism. HOW NOT TO DROWN, a story of childhood courage and survival, questions what makes a family, and what makes a home, but is never once agenda-driven, rather it gives a human view and invites compassion, understanding and kindness from the audience. As we experience the most recent wave of anti-Albanian propaganda, this feels like an incredibly timely production.

If HOW NOT TO DROWN can change the views or perceptions of a single audience member, then this makes it a very valuable piece of storytelling and theatre-making.  The British public have become largely desensitised to the plight of migrants. News reports, characterised by negative stereotypes, most commonly report on numbers, disturbances and disruptions caused by those attempting to enter the country. But a single human story like Dritan’s enables audiences to leave their cosy lives for ninety minutes and see the world through another’s eyes. We also learn the meaning of the word, Besa which is explained as, “if you can help someone, then help them.”

Originally performed in 2019 by Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre, HOW NOT TO DROW, won the Hector McMillan Best New Scottish play award (2020), a Scotsman Fringe First award (2019) and a Herald Angel award for Dritan Kastrati’s performance (2019) and will tour towns in the UK until April 2023. 

Photography credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

HOW NOT TO DROWN by Nicola McCartney and Dritan Kastrani

THEATRE ROYAL, STRATFORD EAST 26 Jan - 11 Feb 2023

Gerry Raffles Square, London, E15 1BN

Thursday 26 January - Saturday 11 February 2023 (not 5 February)

7.30pm (matinees on Thu and Sats - 28 January, 2, 4, 9 and 11 February, 2.30pm) | £10 - £37.50

Box office: 020 8534 0310 | stratfordeast.com

On tour

Chichester Festival Theatre (Minerva Theatre)

Oaklands Park, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 6AP

Tuesday 14 - Saturday 18 February 2023

7.45pm (matinees on Thu 15 and Sat 18 February, 2.45pm) | £20

Box office: 01243 781312 | cft.org.uk

Theatre by the Lake (Main House)

Lakeside, Keswick, CA12 5DJ

Tuesday 28 February - Thursday 2 March 2023

Post show talk: Wednesday 1 March 2023

7.30pm | Tickets from £10

Box office: 017687 74411 | theatrebythelake.com

Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre (Patrick Studio)

Hurst Street, Southside, Birmingham, B5 4TB

Tuesday 7 - Wednesday 8 March 2023

7.30pm (matinee on 8 March at 1pm) | £12 - £15

Box office: 0844 338 5010 | birminghamhippodrome.com

Grand Theatre Blackpool

33 Church Street, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY1 1HTl

Wednesday 15 - Friday 17 March 2023

7.30pm | £15.50 - £21.50

Box office: 01253 290190 | blackpoolgrand.co.uk

Oldham Coliseum Theatre

Fairbottom Street, Oldham, OL1 3SW

Thursday 23 - Saturday 25 March 2023

7.30pm (matinee on 25 March at 2.30pm) | £16 - £20

Box office: 0161 624 2829 | coliseum.org.uk

Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street, Edinburgh, EH1 2ED

Tuesday 28 March - Saturday 1 Apr 2023

7.30pm (matinee on 1st Apr at 2.30pm) | £15 - £17

Company

Written by Nicola McCartney & Dritan Kastrati                             

Direction Neil Bettles                                                                                                                                                                                           

Composer & Sound Designer Alexandra Faye Braithwaite       

Design & Costume Becky Minto

Choreography Neil Bettles & Jonnie Riordan                             

Lighting Zoe Spurr   

Performed by Ajjaz Awad, Esme Bayley, Daniel Cahill, Dritan Kastrati and Sam Reuben

Web and social media links: www.thickskintheatre.co.uk | @ThickSkinTweets | @thickskintheatre (Instagram) | #HowNotToDrown

www.traverse.co.uk | @traversetheatre (Twitter and Instagram)

www.stratfordeast.com | @stratfordeast (Twitter) | @stratford_east (Instagram)

Reviewed by Nilgin Yusuf

An experienced author, lecturer and journalist (ex-Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph and ELLE) Nilgin is developing her first full-length stage play, supported by Mrs.C’s Collective and the Arts Council