Lorna Irvine reviews a 'gentle' political production.
Six music stands containing scripts, six actors, six stories of everyday activism.
Chris Goode's little monologues, taken from real interviews from the Oxford community, range from the life-affirming to the chilling; from subtle acts like defending homeless people to being arrested at demos and working with asylum seekers or anti-vivisection protests.
The class backgrounds, ages and nationalities vary, yet all are united in quietly making a difference, whatever it takes.
It's not as simple as it sounds--some believe they will never live to see the changes they seek, while others (like Spencer Brown's anti-BP sponsorship of Shakespeare plays activist) acknowledge that paradoxically his white male privilege is the reason he is taken so seriously.
Above all, the diversity, in cadences and nuance of voices, is what make Stand so appealing, particularly in Kelda Holmes' young hippy or Lawrence Werber's infectious optimism.
Goode is full of humanity and compassion, and Stand's plea for self-determinism in order to subvert the system is a gentle, rather than sledgehammer-like, polemic.
Twitter: @chrisgoodeandco
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