What I liked
Edib’s ways of playing with tension and release, especially with games of performance-art-serious/metacommentary-and-physical-comedy-silly, are one of my favorite styles of playing with tension and release, out of all the clown I’ve engaged with so far. I enjoyed that they don’t hesitate to bring history and ancestry and political reality into the room. I loved the various poses each character would find for certain actions, like with picking up the phone. I already felt welcome with fellow showgoers before the show began, since Edib and team had made tea and shared icebreaker questions and bubble bottles and encouraged us to get to know each other and our ancestors beforehand.
What I didn't like
Not really a dislike, but I do wish I got to sit in the main hall portion of the theater facing the stage, rather than sitting at one of the two sides of the stage. I did feel very close to Edib and to the performance sitting so close to the stage on the sides of it. However, I felt there were some lovely stage pictures that were more visible/readable from the main hall that didn’t read/view as quickly for me from the sides. It hardly detracted from the show’s capacity to affect me—much of that was carried in the games Edib played, the musical scoring of the performance, and the physical movements and textures they created when easily visible front-of-stage.
My overall impression
I didn’t realize just how much I needed to hear the words Edib channeled via ancestry and performance until said words had already hit my heart, hard. Syrian Soap makes me feel like I can belong in this space of comedy and performance—it’s already had an immensely encouraging effect on my relationship to art. I hope I can keep engaging with performances like this for years and years to come.
