Help! I Think I’m A Nationalist

Seamas Carey introduces himself then politely questions the audience about their thoughts on the word ‘nationalism’ in the guise of unpicking some thoughts.

He then shares some recorded anecdotes he has collected in the process of making a podcast during the time of Covid. It all seems reasonably benign. His recorded anecdotes provide opinion from Cornish locals, that offer insight to his unfolding story.

This is something like a song cycle that repeats, swelling in its momentum and intensity in small increments, until you realise what started as a lullaby has become a menacing rock anthem.

Through a series of personal anecdotes presented as confessions, our charming Seamas from Cornwall (the southernmost country in the United Kingdom) ever so gently describes his suspicions of a gentrification taking place. He’d like to purchase a house in his hometown one day, but something seems to have stymied his opportunities to do so.

Is something rotten in his ancient home? A serve of Cornish cream-tea helps him establish who his allies are, among us (the audience), and gradually a rift develops from his perspective in the room.

Seamus may easily have come from Seaford, or Victor Harbor, as his dilemma, at this point in history, is remarkably universal. Even though there is a local housing shortage, he has noticed a good many houses along the coast where he lives sit empty for most of the year, only to be packed with ‘tourists’ during the holiday season. Naturally he searches for answers to this problem.

His dissertation involves Cornish bagpipes, singing, prancing, the swaying of arms in the air, standing on platforms, a national costume, reflections on his education, all of it presented in a most charming way as his countenance degrades into the realm of something akin to one of Mussolini’s ‘Blackshirts’.

The question is, are we watching a powerfully finetuned piece of confessional theatre, or sitting through an hour of cis white male mansplaining? Or is it both? Whichever it is, the warning signs are obvious. One star, with an additional four stars, because such intelligently presented theatre deserves our full attention.

David Jobling.