Review: Loving The Enemy

What would you do if your native country ended up at war with your parents’ native country? Where might your loyalties lie? How much love have you for your parents? How much have they for theirs? Patriotism is a complex equation wherein variables change value with time. All very well fighting for culture and values, the question is: whose?

A tricky scenario, split-nationality. Your peers see within you an alien where you see only good intent. This is the narrative of Scottish-Italian Hugo Ricci working in a familiar Glasgow setting - an Italian cafe - when on 10th June 1940 Mussolini declares war on Great Britain and France. Not being British enough, the shop is defaced with graffiti urging the Ricci family to ‘go home’. It’s during such an altercation Hugo meets the love of his life, Mhairi, whom he accidentally smears with ice-cream meant for his assailants. To prove he is British enough, he signs up for the British army. To fight the Nazis. His heritage; however, is just a little too ‘exotic’ to trust. So, instead of fighting Nazi’s, Hugo seemingly helps them…with their English.

Actor Lorenzo Novani has adapted Hilda de Felice’s film script for stage which zips along at a nippy pace telling the story of De Felice’s father. Novani’s stellar performance projects an astonishing force of life which summons a cast of many using a myriad of accents and contrasting mannerisms. The sparingly presented soundscape is used to elicit the precariousness of Hugo’s daily existence. And the audience follow Hugo’s every word, rooting for him, wondering how anyone could ever consider him an alien. More than once, without explicitly saying so, Novani asks the question: who are your friends? The context with which others see us conjures illusionary allegiances which crumble like cannoli shells when intelligently interrogated. This is beautifully illustrated through the use of flags. Initially we see them for what they are: symbols of nationhood. However, Novani deploys some hauntingly beautiful dramaturgy to convey the personal experience. It is devastatingly effective and highly evocative.

Loving The Enemy is a joyful piece of theatre that is by turns uncertain, funny, sad, despairing and hopeful: all seasons in one play, much like the British weather.

Loving The Enemy was performed at the Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine on 1st Sept.