When the aid worker met the Kenyan activist
Daniel Nelson
What has Florence Nightingale got to do with the post-World War Two international development aid industry?
Not much, but her appearance in a new play, A Fine Idea, shows how creatively playwright Christine Bacon has tried to turn economics and politics into entertainment.
She also uses a mock magic show to illustrate the trickery behind the massaging of statistics to “prove” the effectiveness of aid, brings dead characters onto the stage, and lampoons a star-studded Band Aid-style fundraiser.
Real people are name-checked: Bill Gates for the aid optimists (“The triumph of the human will”), Burkina Faso’s Thomas Sankara for the socialist revolutionaries who favour greater self-reliance..
These theatrical devices are a brave attempt to explain and dramatise the thesis that Bacon discovered in Jason Hickel’s 2018 book, The Divide, which argues that poor countries are poor because they are integrated into the global economic system on unequal terms. Or, as the publicity for the play asks,”Do we really want to change things – or do we just like the idea of helping?”
She focuses the drama on the massive 2024 demonstrations in Kenya that forced the then government to back down on tax rises proposed at the behest of the International Monetary Fund, the villain of the piece..
The focus is further sharpened by honing in on two main characters: Jo, the earnest, naive aid-worker granddaughter of the policy wonk who secured a place for the Big Idea of aid in President Truman’s inaugural speech, and Kala, a Kenyan activist fighting for real independence and development for the people. Thrown together by a political revolt, Jo’s every-little-helps do-goodism is shattered by Kala’s passionate activism and and the informed cynicism of a renegade IMF number-cruncher.
There’s drama and good acting as well as fun, but they never quite manage to compensate for the lack of rounded characters and the onerous weight of the aid statistics.
Nevertheless, it’s a rare chance to see this important issue tackled in a play.
In any case, any show in Britain that even mentions Sankara gets my vote.
+ Post-show events: 23 June: Meet the team, the cast, director + writer Christine Bacon discuss the the ideas behind the play and bringing it to the stage + 29 June: Let’s talk about debt, Naomi Nyamweya of Malala Fund and Eva Watkinson of Debt Justice UK + 4 July, Q&A with Jason Hickel
* A Fine Idea, £15-£29, is at the Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street E8 3DL until 4 July. Info: Arcola