Memoriam | Southwark Playhouse Borough

Memoriam is a play, written by Noga Flaishon, that explores how far we’ll really go when it comes to never forgetting.

Set in modern day, we follow the story of Rachel - the granddaughter of the last living Holocaust survivor. Rachel works for a virtual reality tech company called Memoriam, who have advanced their tech to the point where they not only sell the VR kit, but also a subscription to be able to access real memories in their memory bank.

We learn throughout the play what Memoriam and their tech is truly capable of - both in the harvesting of memories from their ‘providers’ and then editing and polishing those memories in order to be ready for consumption.

Like any good bit of science fiction, this play’s themes hit eerily close to home. There is the question about new and unregulated practices when it comes to technology (hello AI). There is the question around owning and marketing memories for consumers (hello late stage capitalism). And there’s the question about how we preserve, honor and remember the memories of Holocaust survivors (hello the rise of neo-nazism around the world). All of this is baked into a rather fascinating premise of a show.

These themes are set against the backdrop of this particular family. There is Rachel, the older sister who works for corporate, is tired of the constant pressure to find a partner, and is somewhat jealous of her brother. There is David, her brother, who is seemingly struggling for money but has taken on the larger share of caring responsibilities for their 92-year old grandma. Rivka is the the loveable and kind grandma, and is sadly the last living survivor of the Holocaust.

Rachel endeavours throughout the show to convince both Rivka and David that Rivka should allow Memoriam to harvest her memories of her time in Auschwitz - for both historical preservation and to help make the company a huge amount of money. While Rachel denies doing this for the benefit of Memoriam, we do learn later on that she has an ulterior motive for wanting to harvest these memories. She is desperate to see these memories as her grandma has never shared them with her, and has only shared them with her brother David.

While the family drama is compelling and moving at times, the main issue with this play is that there is too much time focusing on the moral debate (between Rachel and David in particular) about preserving these memories of the Holocaust. The moral debate is clear from the off and from the earlier scenes where we see another character unrelated to this family sell her memory of childbirth and then struggle with that choice after her memory is extracted. What was more compelling was to see and hear Rivka’s story and watch even further the family healing that happens when stories get told and shared. And at almost 2 hours with no interval, this show could benefit from some cuts.

Additionally, the acting in this performance was, at times, mechanical. The several scenes between both Rachel and David were not levelled or varied enough to be engaging throughout. It was as if, from the writing, the actors had nowhere to go in their emotions but up. Bigger anger and pain, until it ended in a yelling match that it seems only their grandma could quell.

That being said, Beverley Klein who played Rivka was phenomenal. She was so incredibly tender and nuanced in her performance, I found myself moved by even her simple gestures of kindness towards her grandchildren. Towards the end she delivers this fantastic monologue to the audience, where she tells the story of finding a red shoe outside of her house in the rain. It was a powerhouse performance and one that brought me to tears.

Both Rachel Barry (who played Rachel) and Ashley Margolis (who played David) were strong in their performances overall. Especially as the two finally make peace in the last scene. Ben Wiggins, who played the corporate wanker boss Chris, was phenomenal at playing the modern day villain. His ability to strike that balance between charming and aggressive was perfect and incredibly accurate. Jimena Larraguivel, who played Becky, the first person we see selling her memories to Memoriam, was captivating in her two scenes. Overall, the cast did very well for a show that was extremely emotionally charged throughout.

The sterile set of both a white platform and a white halo light hanging overhead was simple but effective in setting the scene in various locations across the play. However, it would have been nice to have some projections or more lighting colors throughout the show, just to evoke different and even warmer tones in some of the scenes.

All in all this show was an emotional powerhouse that challenged the audience to really think about memory, preservation, and storytelling, especially when it comes to important events in our shared history like the Holocaust. However, the show was trying to cover and explain too much about this moral quandary, instead of focusing on the actual stories and dynamics between these characters.

Memoriam is a thought-provoking and moving piece of theatre, and will have you thinking about your memories and the memories of those you love. In this modern world of rapidly growing tech and AI - would you sell your memories to ensure they are never forgotten?

Memoriam plays at Southwark Playhouse Borough until 21st November - tickets and more information can be found here.

★★★☆☆ (3*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Charlie Flint