London Theatre in Hackney Wick, Olympic London. Vaughan Pilikian

Review of a Stage production, conceived and directed by
Vaughan Pilikian, at The Yard, a new London Theatre in
Hackney Wick, Olympic London.
LEPER COLONY visualizes the moto perpetuo behaviour of a group of outcasts brought together, most probably against their will and haphazardly so, away from the mundane society.
With short spoken phrases at minimal occurrences, they burst out their mini-monologues crying loud to 'go home', or even trying to climb walls to ‘go out’, but always reminding each other that their colony is the
home and not out there. No matter, some still continue to try and ‘go home’ or ‘go out’.
Mostly, they either do nothing but sit or lie down in contraction, or they destroy the elements surrounding them -- furniture, toys and all.
The paragon for a human being as a ‘social animal’ is in smithereens at Leper Colony. They are already neither social nor animal beings.
Notwithstanding the incessant 'urge' of their subconscious to relate and possibly love each other physically or spiritually, their unadorned reaction is to refute fulfilment of any kind. Violent actions are expressed against their material surroundings but, paradoxically and fascinatingly so, never against each other. They indeed are 'lepers' for being unfit to be soldiers or ‘canon fodder’ in industrial/military societies to create profit for the warmongers of the one percent. Nothing bothers them as much as each to himself or to herself.
A new sunrise of a new dawn or an atomic blast in the mundane world outside their own has no effect at all on their ad nauseam monotony of despair ad infinitum. Being neither social nor animal, their 'leper' colony has nevertheless kept, and mysteriously so, that most preciously humane part of the 'social animal' attribute -- no physical violence towards each other in the colony. Albeit a single lone attribute, but for sure still a valid 'passport' for them to be with the ninety-nine percent -- in essence
their home out there, meaning us, our normal world.
Khatchatur I. Pilikian
June 1st, 2012, London

Khatchatur I. Pilikian