Review: Evo Evo
📍 Playhouse East
🗓️ 2nd October 2026
🎟️ PR Invite
Evo Evo is a Balkan phrase that is difficult to translate into English literally. Essentially, it means "here I am", "I am coming" or "just about to" - it's the Balkan philosophy of time.
Supported by Arts Council England, Evo Evo is a show brought to Playhouse East this week by four London-based Balkan performers. It's difficult to describe the show in terms of a particular genre, but this performance is a mixture of humour, song, dance and comedy sketches that shares and celebrates a culture that is often overlooked and underrepresented.
The four performers and creators of the show are Harun Ćehović, Klara Kaliger, Filip Mayer and Iva L. Šimić, who share their cultures from Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. Despite both countries being high on my “travel wishlist”, I still haven’t visited either, and so my knowledge of these cultures is pretty much non-existent. I was therefore excited to learn more about them.
Walking into the theatre, you are instantly met with a welcoming and friendly atmosphere, with the four performers wandering around the space, chatting to audience members and offering coffee and food as they take their seats. There’s a great buzz within the space, and you can’t help but get caught up in the excitement. The premise of the show is essentially the process of making a theatre show, with the four performers trying to figure out the best way to present and represent their culture in an engaging way. This adds a level of chaos and humour from the very beginning, with discussions and disagreements about how to begin.
So, they begin with presentation slides explaining where they come from — the cities they grew up in, and which are the best — alongside the history of their countries, inventions and famous people who have come from them. A particularly humorous moment looks at which countries can understand each other’s languages and which cannot - it's complicated! The effect of this opening is very much like a student presentation, but it is genuinely educational and actually the perfect way to start the show — you can’t learn about a culture without knowing its background.
From here, the performance delves into a range of themes through comedy sketches, including identity, migration and belonging… with the occasional coffee and cigarette break. They discuss their own backgrounds, the difficulties of entering another country and what they miss from back home, while also inviting the audience to share their own experiences — who has visited a Balkan country and, for those who are also from the region, what they miss from home.
This creates a broad spectrum of topics that flow together really nicely. It is a little chaotic at times, but that’s simply part of trying to develop a show in real-time, so it never feels like too much and it is performed with such enthusiasm, it all comes together nicely. The performance is incredibly fast-paced, and the cast never let the momentum drop throughout the evening.
Ćehović, Kaliger, Mayer and Šimić are a hugely engaging group of performers. They work together well to tell their individual stories while also sharing the culture of their cities and countries. There’s plenty of humour mixed into the show, creating a lovely balance between the softer moments and the exploration of what it means to represent your culture in a different part of the world. The energy with which they perform throughout is infectious, creating an amazing atmosphere in the room.
There are moments where they speak in their own languages, which is a beautiful and important part of the show and who they are. A particularly humorous moment is a sketch between two friends meeting. They speak in their own language, but the conversation is then translated into English twice — first as a literal translation, and then again in a version that describes what the conversation actually means - before ending in a hilarious slow-motion argument about who should pay the bill.
Ultimately, no matter where you come from, everyone has differences and similarities within their cultures, and those are important to recognise and celebrate. And celebrate they do. As the show closes with a poignant monologue shared between the four performers about belonging, the audience is invited to get up and dance along with them. With more drinks and food handed out, the show ends in a party, and I couldn’t help but leave with the biggest smile on my face — and confirmation that I do, in fact, need to finally visit these countries.
EVO EVO is a wonderful celebration of Balkan culture in a format that is incredibly inviting to people of all cultures and backgrounds: an hour of chaotic energy, music, laughter and connection. A feeling of belonging is something that a lot of people can relate to, no matter who you are, and in this small theatre in Haggerston, you definitely feel like you belong.
EVO EVO is created and performed by Harun Ćehović, Klara Kaliger, Filip Mayer and Iva L. Šimić
Dramaturg: Paul Sirett
Associate Dramaturg: Pooja Sivaraman
Creative Consultant: Jonathan Oldfield
Movement Director: Marko Stamenković
Sound Designer: Bruno Vilhar
Costume Designer: Rosalba Mensah
Lighting Designer: Lander Martinez
Associate Producer: Jake Walton
Graphic Designer: Marta Badurina
