Lima. Etcetera Theatre.

Paris-based writer and performer Julian Azad Bonnet offers up a “Solo Comedy Drama about Life, Love and Loss” in his 50-minute piece Lima. The mash-up of monologue, rap, music, physical theatre, and back protections is often striking in its imagery. But the narrative spins off in a dozen different diversions and ultimately it is difficult to decipher what Lima is getting at.

How to reconcile solitude with everyday chaos is the conundrum Azad Bonnet poses in the show blurb. Chaos is certainly etched throughout the life of Lima’s protagonist, seemingly a waiter in a Paris brasserie. Casual acts of aggression confront him on the way to work; “why don’t you just stop and piss on me” he shouts at a wayward, spitting bike rider.  His customers are rude and indecisive, and he dreams of force-feeding them mushrooms.

Home life is difficult too. Dad is facing legal action that may see him lose everything. Mum has cancer, “a death seed grows in her breast” we hear. Her prognosis is grim. Even getting his fast food order free from unwanted sauce proves to be an almost unendurable ordeal.

“I need to take a break from people” the character says. He does this by drinking whisky, getting stoned, and disassociating into thoughts of his infant schooling, teenage Aikido classes, and much-loved beach holidays in Brittany. “You can make a good friend of solitude” he concludes, by being kind, honest and fighting for the ones you love.

This might sound like a single storyline, but there are an awful lot of detours on the way. We get an extended excursion into the history of Japanese martial art, a video piece extolling the northern lights, French language rap, and back projections that feature politicians from the past six decades. The piece certainly creates its own world, but what it all means is something of an enigma.

Writer and Director:   Julian Azad Bonnet