Rebekah Smith
If you think Oasis are overrated it’s because you never grew up poor.
Anthem for Dissatisfaction is a celebration of the music that understands what it is to be broke, disregarded, and angry about it. This two-person show, scored by a backdrop of Britpop, Bruce Springsteen and Sam Fender, is a defiant rally against an enduring injustice that we have been told to accept as the immovable state of things.
The story follows ‘Irish twins’ Sarah and Jamie as they transition from their childhood through to their late twenties. With the backdrop of austerity and an ever-failing Tory government, these siblings’ 11-month age gap provide them each with a unique insight into the pride, guilt and survival of growing up poor.
From the outset we are launched into a story full of fire and passion and care. Directed by Gina Donnelly and Tony Devlin, the show blends narratives of 2000s poverty with the cost-of-living crisis of modern Britain. With a tight focus on the displacement of identity and class, along with a banging soundtrack, the play burns brightly against injustice – comforting yet desperate. It is a tightly curated script, written by Gina Donnelly, that never slips too far into the preachy, but just enough that you sit up and pay attention to exactly what society wants you to ignore.
The actors do a phenomenal job at bringing Donnelly’s writing to life. They are cheeky, playful and bursting with youthful optimism and resilience. Jamie, played by Simon Sweeney, is a force of energy and sincerity, bringing to life the childlike desire and desperation to pull yourself up from insignificance in a world where no one gives a damn if you succeed. His older sister Sarah, played by Emily Lamey, is his perfect partner in crime, disenfranchised by circumstance but hungry to satiate her music, art and education starved soul. Together they are electric, channelling the bravado and righteous anger of being a teenager.
Anthem for Dissatisfaction is a joyful, hopeful cry of escaping the chains of poverty, yet it never steps too far away from the very real fear of betraying the class that shape us into the people we are. It speaks of the guilt of daring to exist and take up space in austerity Britain when you are on benefits. The script naturally evoked a very authentic history and I found myself constantly flitting through my own childhood memories, such as pouring over the same cd pamphlet until it disintegrated because it was the only one I could afford.
The piece is timely in a social landscape where UK media rhetoric pretends to care for those experiencing unemployment and homelessness in a thinly veiled guise for xenophobia and anti-immigration. It is a stark reminder that they didn’t care for the working class and unemployed during the 2008 financial crash and they certainly don’t care now. It is a tough and uncomfortable watch at some points, in all the right ways – necessary and pertinent to the struggles of today.
I really could go on and on about this piece but will refrain, as I don’t wish to take away any of the heavy hits or emotional satisfaction you will get from watching it for yourself.
If this is a familiar story to you, don’t be surprised if you are sat in the audience and transported to being a child and seeing guilt in your parents’ eye because you accidentally let slip that you wanted something they couldn’t afford.
It is a story that dares to push beyond its premise. Through the protagonists we are reminded that no matter how bad it gets in the future, we lived through it then and we will do again. And maybe next time our heroes won’t betray the ideals of the music that made them famous to begin with. Maybe the next hero will remember to give a damn about the class they came from.
Anthem for Dissatisfaction is heartbreaking, healing, and affirming. It is well worth the watch to share in the siblings’ highs and lows, whether it is familiar to you or not. No one should feel shame and guilt simply for existing. Simply for having the audacity to experience the everyday joy of education, music and a beer that isn’t supermarket own. The joys that the people in charge never have to think about, because it isn’t something they’ve never had.
Recommended Drink: A pint of warm, cheap beer in a plastic cup, half spilled on the concert or gig dancefloor.
You can catch Anthem for Dissatisfaction until August 25th (not the 11th or 18th) at the Red Lecture Theatre at Summerhall from 19:45 (65mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake Mace
Lamesha Ruddock
Jasmine Silk
