Mnemonic at the National Theatre

Returning to the stage after 25 years, Simon McBurney’s Mnemonic is a meditative piece on identity, relationships and memory.

Khalid Abdalla plays the lead, Omar. In the opening scene, he casually performs a humorous monologue with self-references, including one to The Crown, in which he starred, giving personal anecdotes from his own life, breaking the fourth wall. There is a charming section where we are invited to put on blindfolds and recall being six years old, with both our parents and three sets of grandparents, behind us. The monologue traverses this way and that, placing the crowd in a calming reverie. Along with the blindfold, everyone has an artificial leaf, which Abdalla guides us to hold and explore its veins, just like the connections that hold us to our ancestors.

These beginning scenes are beautiful and trance-like, but seem only an opener for the next sections, which are disparate in comparison. Omar’s wife Alice (Eileen Walsh) has left, and he doesn’t know why. Amidst this relationship concern is the discovery of the Iceman, also known as Ötzi, who was found in 1991, in the mountains between Austria and Italy, very much preserved. Thought to have lived approximately 5000 years ago, finding this Neolithic body is interweaved with present-day events: of Alice on a quest to reconnect with her father, of Omar waiting to be reunited with his lover, of interviews with neuroscientists and archaeologists alike eager to fully grasp the story of how Ötzi came to his fatal end on the Alps.

According to Mnemonic, climate has a profoud impact on humanity’s behaviour, and of course, vice versa, perhaps why the Iceman discovery is such a key feature. One of the original members from the 1999 Complicité production, Richard Katz, reflects on his time rehearsing, and of how unusual the room was: “No set, no costumes…no script either. No text, no structure, no characters…The piece didn’t even have a title.” These few lines shed light on the end production, where, despite the attempt to tie several of the motifs together, they are all just a little too incongruent. Yet, perhaps that is the point, that they come to resemble the beautiful yet fragile memories in our minds, and reflect the delicate leaves we were given, only temporarily.

The entire cast is excellent in their roles, switching seamlessly between accents and characters. Abdallah and Walsh’s bond is emotionally rendered, while Kostas Philippoglou’s portrayals provide great comic relief. Set design by Michael Levine, is also a sight to behold, with a white gossamer sheet sweeping across the stage, and bedroom furniture magically moving, without any visible ropes or gurneys.

Despite all the wonderful performances and work that went behind this revival, the length, repetition and arbitrary nature lack the element that would bind the piece together, making it tenuous at best – but again, perhaps that’s the point.

Selina Begum
Images: Johan Persson

Mnemonic is at the National Theatre from 3^rd July until 10^th August 2024. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.