To anyone watching Mnemonic for the first time, the play will feel modern and innovative. For those who saw Simon McBurney’s play 25 years ago, when it premiered at the National Theater, the revival will feel just as emotional, clever, and intense as it did then, though contemporary details like global warming, Brexit, and veganism have been added. Mnemonic’s title refers to memory, and that is exactly what McBurney addresses: he reminds us that memory is the least reliable narrator. The play includes philosophy and mystery; a woman finds her long-lost father and a 5,000-year-old body is found in the Alps. There are twists and turns and the storyline is fragmented. Yet the audience is never lost. McBurney again directs, but this time Khalid Abdalla plays Omar. “If you love theatre, see it,” the writer Dominic Maxwell wrote in The Times. “If you don’t love theatre, it might just change your mind.” —Jeanne Malle
The Arts Intel Report
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For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
Mnemonic
![](https://photos.airmail.news/xo4m5mkeio02ydmedyxya0pw2c1s-8c6015f6edf5051399dd4ee0aacac48b.jpg)
Khalid Abdalla and the Mnemonic cast at the National Theatre.
When
July 1 – Aug 10, 2024
Where
Etc
Stage
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Olivier Theatre
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London
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Closing Soon
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Theater
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Britain
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Live performance
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Play/theater
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Summer
Photo: Johan Persson