King Troll (The Fawn), New Diorama Theater review: powerful dystopian drama

Hell became a reality in Milli Bhatia’s production of Sonali Bhattacharyya’s Women’s Prize-nominated play. King Troll (The Fawn). A sudden flash of light plunges the audience into terror, while the darkness and feeling of oppression increases as the piece progresses. Bhatia has extracted every ounce of terror from Bhattacharyya’s script to make it a complete, immersive experience. Featuring piercing sound design by XANA that will have the entire theater rumbling and crashing, and a set by Rajha Shakiry, which looks like it came out of a nightmare, the result is a piece that warns, scares and scares us to the bone.

We are never told exactly what “island” the characters live on, but rather in the dystopian world King troll never feels too far from our own. The sisters Riya and Nikita are left to fend for themselves after their mother’s death. But with Riya’s citizenship in question, she is unable to work and earn money to pay rent every month. And with no one to support her bid to stay and a meeting with the Home Office looming, the situation is unlikely to improve.

Both sisters are desperately searching for a place they can truly call home. So, in a last-ditch effort, Riya and Nikita visit one of their mother’s old friends who lives far away from the rest of civilization. Played by Ayesha Dharker with wide eyes and witchy energy, she offers Riya an unexpected, alternative way out. The catch? Riya must use dark magic and summon a deer to protect her.

There’s blood and lots of jump scares. But Bhattacharyya’s piece is also a meticulous examination of the migrant experience that directly addresses the deep injustices of border controls. The actors are also worth their weight in gold – especially Dominic Holmes, who transforms into The Fawn before our eyes. Holmes is an expert at physical performances – he bends over, contorts, and is Golum-like throughout. But the words he shouts are even more monstrous. The fawn is the embodiment of our darkest and most selfish thoughts. The parts of us that think we are better than others. Or it annoys us to have to pretend to be nice. “I am you,” he says.

The piece takes the form of a kind of prophecy. The opening speech, read by the demonic voice of The Fawn, announces his eventual arrival. “Somewhere in this room there is someone who is not who he says he is,” it says. But as the play progresses and Riya is drawn more and more into a simpler life, Bhattacharya’s words also make us question our own morals. How far would we go to protect ourselves? We ask ourselves. If we had the chance, would we even give up our chance?

Some scenes between Nikita and Tahir, the asylum seeker she supports, lack tension compared to the rest of the play. But “King Troll” remains a poignant parable about the human crimes of today. This production burns and hurts when it comes to what it means to be different.