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In the Land of Eagles

 
Richard Beck Review by Richard Beck 4 Published: 13 Aug 2025 Pleasance Courtyard Show Dates: 30 Jul 2025-25 Aug 2025

If you’ve still not been to Albania, then writer/performer Alex Reynolds brings it alive in a vibrant rollercoaster journey through this thrilling country of charming people and stunning landscapes, combined with the discovery of lost family history, in Land of Eagles at Pleasance Courtyard.

The storytelling remains engaging, poetic, and humorous throughout, packed with vivid imagery.

This sweeping, action-packed story is inspired by true events. Reynolds and her Grandpa are thick as thieves at six and sixty-six, but worlds apart by eighteen and seventy-eight. “Don’t tell Mum,” she says to him. He promises not to, on one condition: that the next time she goes on an adventure, she promises to take him with her. Then, one day, he asks to go home—not to his semi down the road, but to his historic roots. Her bluff has been called. Albania is a distant, mysterious land, and he can’t venture there alone.

What follows is a wild, crazy journey, by turns unexpected and fantastical, as the unlikely pair soon find themselves journeying into the heart of a place unknown. The history of this dark, little-known country, which was cut off from the rest of the world for some forty years by its tyrannical dictator Enver Hoxha, is laid out in intriguing anecdotes and perilous paragraphs of narrative, told at an unrelenting, breakneck speed. The story is filled with passion and excitement, as the curious granddaughter is exposed to the culture of a country she has never known, yet is part of her heritage, and uncovers the truth about her grandfather’s life before he came to England. But as their journey reaches an end, she must now find a way to say goodbye to the grandfather she has only just had the chance to know.

The storytelling remains engaging, poetic, and humorous throughout, packed with vivid imagery. For those of us who have experienced the hospitality and self-determination of the Albanians, it’s a joy to relive times spent there and hear themes of national identity and resistance to oppression brought to life.

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The Blurb:

Her and Grandpa are different and not the same. She's got MySpace, he's got his bench by the back gate. When Grandpa asks to go home, he doesn't mean his semi-detached down the road. Albania is far and he can't venture there alone. By turns unexpected and fantastical, they soon find themselves journeying into the heart of a place unknown. Inspired by true events, In the Land of Eagles uncovers how far we will go to make amends for the mistakes of our past.