The Flowers of Srebrenica
Jacksons Lane Art Centre
★★★★

THIRTY years after the shocking events in Srebrenica, where the UN abandoned their mass sanctuary in Bosnia to Ratko Mladic’s Serbian forces with the ensuing slaughter of 8,000 men and boys, this reflection on that genocide could not be more timely.

Adapted from Aidan Hehir’s book, the simple narrative involves him as an Irish lecturer specialising in former Yugoslavian geo-political studies, who visits Srebrenica where his detached knowledge of the subject is drowned by the unspeakable depth of the tragedy for all those involved.

A chorus of three women, actors from Bosnia, Rwanda and Ukraine, dressed in cream, wraith-like costumes, create a haunting sense of the enduring past. Intimately tied to the black earth at the heart of Isabella Van Braeckel’s set that conceals memories of the dead, they are the physical and emotional environment of Aidan’s journey. In contrast, his real guide, a former victim of the war, distances much of the suffering and betrayal behind a quirky and pragmatic acceptance.

Interposed with stylistically diverse interludes where the chorus explores the “anatomy of genocide,” the horrors of Bosnia are expanded to other more recent genocides with rolling lists of the thousands slaughtered projected along with images of seemingly endless graves.

Director Lara Parmiani has tackled the profoundly moving experience described by Hehir, visiting the memorial site at Potocari, without offering any answers in what seems to be a world increasingly divided by nationalism and its recurring, catastrophic inhumanity, but with a recognition of how greater empathy might shape our emotional responses, if not our practical ones. After his overpowering awakening, Aidan is only able to buy a souvenir and offer a tip to his guide.

The thought-provoking production, with recurring echoes of victims and survivors, does have some weaknesses though. At only an hour long, Jeremiah O’Connor as Aidan has issues conveying the extent or depth of his emotional journey from hot, tired and unenthusiastic tourist following up on his studies, to emotional martyr when faced by the real horrors of the war.

This criticism though should not detract from a striking production that offers an important reminder of our recent history and a warning of where we might be heading.

Runs until October 18 then touring. Box office: 020 8340 5226, jacksonslane.org.uk