Revu Racists, Recessions & Revolutions

“Racists, Recessions & Revolutions” Poster

This is exactly the work that the Edinburgh Fringe is known for! This cannot be recommended, recommended, recommended enough! Racists, Recessions and Revolutions is your next watch. 

Macedonian music plays, there is a chair, there are two alternating coloured red and white cabinets. Nadica, played flawlessly by Isabella Heaver, comes on stage holding the Macedonian flag and asks the audience if they know which country this represents.

What follows is a story of digital lies, god complexes and genuine brilliance. Nadica, taking after her brother “a hustler” (a scammer), starts spreading fake news online during 2016, and when the Covid 19 Pandemic takes hold, she uses everything she can to her advantage and as things spiral and the truth becomes and fluid as ever, Nadica does whatever it takes to keep hustling.

To praise one individual element of this production is to do it a disservice. This is a rare example of every element in a piece of theatre working in complete harmony. Strong acting, bounces off brilliant writing, which is the springboard for focussed direction to a room layered and oozing with excellent sound, set and lighting design. 

Racists, Recessions and Revolutions wears its message on its sleeve and yet perfectly manages the balancing act of allowing the audience to connect the dots themselves, treating them with the utmost respect and never talking down to them. A key example of this is the imagery of flags which comes completely full circle at the end.

Despite being a production about lies and fake news and manipulation, the storytelling is perfected and it is completely impossible to look away from. Crucially, Nadica as a character is someone one does not have to like, but someone who is deeply compelling, someone with a story that is entirely unpredictable - in the best way possible. 

This production and its world is horrifying. But it is also a tremendous joy to watch. It is theatre done right.

Forget the UK, forget Macedonia, this show deserves the world.

We highly recommend it. 

We highly recommend you watch out for the work of DBN Productions and its team members.

Tickets can be found here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/racists-recessions-and-revolutions

5/5 Stars

By Ethan H.M.M