THEATRE AT HOME: Zara ★★★

Zara
Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, Imperial War Museum
Friday 10th - Saturday 11th May 2019

Taking place in the grounds at The Imperial War Museum, Zara is an outdoor performance piece led by MTG Studios, which was staged last April in the bid to break the stigma surrounding adults with learning disabilities bringing up a child, and in particular for this performance focuses on Zara (Joanna Haines), who just meer moments after the start of a protest, to which the production sets as it's backdrop, gives birth to her child.

Commissioned by Francis Morgan, the draw for the audience on this occasion is a puppeteered baby that reaches over 14ft high, the equivalent of one double decker. With Sam Hill presenting breaking news on the due date of the baby, his presence is ramped up with energy and charisma throughout, completely guiding the whole storyline and coming off a gentleman whenever he is faced with interviewing the public on the grounds. It should be noted that pretty much every member of the company, which features over 100 performers, live with a learning disability themselves, and actually it's incredibly touching to watch as they gather as a collective to put on such a monumental production which such high production costs, with most segments coming off graciously.

As the material is drawn back and the baby is awoken with screams, a together being manned by eleven puppeteers, sadly the filmed footage, which in this instance is being released on the year anniversary of Zara being produced, does not managed to truly capture the true nature and magnitude of this offering. As large props such as a dummy and a milk bottle are passed through the gardens and over the audience, these moments start to become tedious and draw out in such a way that the drones of the baby's wailing becomes evermore irratating.

For the kids, confetti fired cannons boom out as a clean up operation song about baby's poo is demonstrated through Joyce Nga You Lee's direction and Karen Bartholomew choreography, which once again showcases all forms of disabilities, with wheelchair users involved in the action as well as they who are able to stand, whilst all wearing protective gear and some even with sweepers.

With issues surrounding Zara's ability to care very much brought to the surface but then simply trampled on to make way for the sheer amount of entertainment on offer, it feels almost like Zara's story isn't actually the pinnacle talking point, but rather the spectacle of the baby was what was to carry the whole production. Whilst the baby is rather staggering in design and accomplishment, sadly the same could not be said for the projection mapping just off to the side of the stage, which hardly gets seen from the cameras point of view and is a real shame.

Overall, Zara is a production which comes across as very unsure of its motive and impact, pushing aside it's main thread of bringing up a child whilst living with a disability, and instead trying to push as much visibility in its cast through entertaining songs and visual spectacles, most notably Francis Morgan's glorious baby design.

You can stream Zara until Monday 11th May 2020 by Clicking Here.