Isobel Jacob
‘Is your father Osama Bin Laden?’ This question is asked repeatedly throughout LANDSFRAU, as we join its captivating performer, Mariann Yar, to venture through her memories, experiences and imaginations to unearth her true feelings of pride, responsibility and even guilt as she reckons with how her Afghan heritage has shaped her.
You enter the theatre to a stage full of air beds, long brunette plaits spilling out of their ends; Yar is crouch over a pump. Once the show begins, a blend of melodies rumble through Tech Cube 0, snatches of The Jungle Book merging into electronic beats; traditional Afghan folk songs mixing with murmurs of jumbled voices. Yar starts to move, dancing in urgent shapes around the stage in a costume of long plaits and, again, a costume seemingly made up of blended cultures. LANDSFRAU promises to be ‘a personal act of political resistance’ and I was not disappointed.
We meet Ariana, an 8 year old schoolgirl whose parents migrated from Afghanistan to Germany, against the backdrop of US invasion, Taliban rule and a post-9/11 atmosphere of stigma and prejudice. With Farsi (and occasionally English) subtitles, we flicker between vignettes of her schoolteacher and classmates, to her living room with her father, to undefined landscapes where the real world of Edinburgh Fringe 2026 start to bleed in. Language becomes a tool of Yar to traverse the archives of her life, at times even questioning the validity of her own storytelling. By the second half of this hour-long kaleidoscope, the voice of her grandfather and her vulnerable, honest confessions to the audience bring us firmly into the present moment, where we stay for the rest of the play. Through a masterful patchwork of music, dance, conversation and monologue, LANDSFRAU evolves into an extremely thought-provoking exploration of how the preconceptions and stereotypes other hold of us reflect in how we view ourselves, and focuses in on a pertinent interrogation of the weighty responsibility, even shame, Yar feels to carry on a legacy of resistance and activism that women living in Afghanistan have established.
Yar is a beautifully authentic and candid performer, with a stage presence that kept the entire audience transfixed throughout. She began with an impressive intensity when multi-roling, not depending on exaggerated characterisations but rather shifting through childhood experiences with a natural, deft touch. Whilst in the first half I wondered whether the character of Ariana’s development felt a little restricted – in some moments, the action was moving on very quickly, leaving me wishing some scenes had been given more time to breathe – in the second half, Yar really came into her own. Using the audience to create an extended scene of true connection, demonstrating the importance of meeting people in earnest, open ways, Yar broke down the formalities of the venue’s stage-seating divide and effectively transformed her (rightful) rage and turmoil to an atmosphere of warmth, community and celebration. It was a wonderful glimpse into her personal cultural influences, like we were talking to a friend; in this half, she made it clear that she was really in the room with us: adjusting the curtain, sipping water… I think this honesty and humanness was where the piece really played to its strengths.
Co-directed by Leonard Dick, LANDSFRAU utilised clever transitions and unique sound design by Andrej Agranovski and Yar herself. LANDSFRAU‘s final discussion where Yar wrestled with her own privilege, her feminism and her shame was excellently delivered, digging into a nuanced discussion of extraction, colonialism and how Afghan women in particular are dehumanised and silenced by narratives told about Afghanistan, where a guise of feminism so frequently is a mask for white saviourism and racist tropes. Paired with possibly the most inventive set design I’ve ever seen in fringe theatre, I left LANDSFRAU feeling I’d been shared with generously and passionately.
In an Instagram post, Yar writes ‘I was afraid of telling the wrong story.’ Yet, LANDSFRAU seems to be exactly the right story to be telling: a truthful portrayal of just how hard it is to tell a story about your personal identity when there is such a pressure to represent an entire culture or country. Of the challenge of reclaiming a narrative when there are so many misconceptions and oversimplifications. I would urge audiences to see LANDSFRAU to get the chance to hear about a complex, multi-faceted Afghanistan that I, personally, have never had presented to me before.
Recommended Drink: An Afghan tea… you might even get the chance to have some during LANDSFRAU!
Catch LANDSFRAU from 6-31st August at 14:50 (1 hour). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Box Office.
Eve Miller
Salvador Kent
