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Revolution Days

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow

Four stars

 

When idealistic young aid worker Samira leaves Glasgow for Jordan in 2010 in the wake of the Arab Spring, she is on a mission to change the world she thinks she understands. As a mixed race Muslim abroad, however, bearing witness from afar may be one thing, but squaring up to frontline atrocities on a daily basis as she moves rapidly from one crisis to another is traumatic enough to leave her profoundly affected by the events around her. 

 

The world may have moved on since Mariem Omari’s solo play inspired by her own experiences first appeared in 2021, but in terms of the fall out of what has happened in the Middle East since then, things have only changed for the worse. 

 

A vibrant performance from Olivia Hemmati forms the heart of Shilpa T-Hyland’s production for the Citizens’ Theatre’s associate company, Bijli Productions, which steps out for a full tour in this redeveloped version of the play. As Samira becomes engulfed by the turmoil with only occasional respite, Hemmati captures her move from wide-eyed idealist to world-weary casualty as events around her become increasingly hard to bear. 

 

This is relayed with a diary-like clarity highlighted through the news footage flagged up in Lewis Den Hertog’s video work on Jen McGinley’s set. This is given even more gravitas by the environmental noises off of Nik Paget-Tomlinson’s sound design and Niroshini Thamba’s stately score. Throughout all this, Hemmati gives a bravura turn over the play’s seventy minutes that captures the complex human cost of age-old hostilities in a backdrop of a conflict-led landscape. Samira’s tour of duty may be over as she returns home, but the war goes on. 


The Herald, May 23rd 2026

 

Ends

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