Old hat

Lloyd Evans

Wednesday, 16th January 2008

La Cage aux Folles
Menier Chocolate Factory

The British Ambassador’s Belly Dancer
Arcola

Angry Young Man
Trafalgar Studio

The British Ambassador’s Belly Dancer is about the wife of Craig Murray, the whistle-blowing diplomat who was sacked after exposing the use of torture in Uzbekistan. He returned home, you may remember, hitched to a young bride he’d met at a strip club. Here she is, Nadira Murray, a woman of extraordinary poise and beauty and with an extraordinarily ugly story to tell. In Uzbekistan, she was born to a family of posh and educated commies who worked in the theatre (under Marxism, apparently, actors were thought to be valuable citizens, not sad preening hysterical megalomaniacs), and when the system collapsed so did the family. Her father slipped into despair and heroin once his career imploded. Others chased the dollar, he chased the dragon. The family’s best asset in the new capitalist order was Nadira’s beauty and as a stripper she earned enough to support her parents. This inspired her father to wean himself off the smack. So far, so Cinderella.

The mood darkens when she explains how justice in Uzbekistan resides in the barrel of a gun. Uzbek girls marry early because without male protection they’re likely to be raped by the police. Thousands of unwed girls lose their virginity in the interrogation room under threat of trumped-up drugs charges. Nadira fell victim twice. No wonder she grabbed the first chance to get out of there married to a brave and liberal-minded British diplomat. And when Craig Murray drew the world’s attention to the criminals who run Uzbekistan, our brave and liberal-minded government sided with the criminals. Shameful. The show ends on a happier note with a display of wonderfully graceful belly dancing. An amazing, harrowing, sickening, uplifting and unexpectedly brilliant piece of theatre.