Ben Martin and Olly Murphy's production Fear and Misery in the Third Reich (an original translation by Murphy of Furcht und Ellend, and a largely original interpretation of the anti-Nazi domestic scenes, by Martin) is intense, claustrophobic, ambitious, and interesting. It doesn't always succeed, but then, I reckon Brecht is one of the hardest and most demanding playwrights. His stuff is not easy to deliver into the 21st century. It's not 'entertaining' in the commonly understood sense - the relentless, ethics-driven idea of Epic Theatre aims at producing discomfort and intellectual alienation, not thrills and satisfaction.
So what do we get in the cavernous cramp of Frewin Undercroft from the cast of five (plus brief intrusions from Nazi guards Jack Herlihy and Alistair MacRae)? A thoughtful, committed, but occasionally imperfectly acted rendition of some horrific facets of life in Hitler’s Germany. Brecht was one of the only voices portraying that world: it is ungenerous to complain that his picture is incomplete, lacking any insight into the element of authentic popular enthusiasm that kept the evil system working, focusing only on the terror, paranoia and intimidation suffered by a cross section of the people.
The disadvantage in this text, though, is definitely the danger of lapsing into camp ‘S&M’ dynamics in prison torture scenes, and into an excess of unsubtle gothic effects generally. But only one or two of the scenes seemed spoiled by a failure to rise to the demands of the acting in this genuinely high standard student production.
Krittika Bhattacharjee is a glowing highlight of Fear and Misery and has real, natural talent. She engages audience attention fully as a Jewish wife leaving her husband for his sake, as a slightly suspect maid, and in one or two other minor roles, not to mention the chorus, which throughout returns to mark out a scene change with a snippet of epic verse.
Dugie Young and Adam Scott Taylor are overall strong, and so is Will Valori in places. Molly Hart is very good. Lighting, costume and sound are expert; the translation was impeccable (to a German native speaker); the decision to work with braided whips and black leather, however, was perhaps too risky. But the play itself is historical psychology at its purest and most challenging. Go see it to explore, as one must, with honesty, the structures of the inner life that enabled and suffered Nazi ideology.
So what do we get in the cavernous cramp of Frewin Undercroft from the cast of five (plus brief intrusions from Nazi guards Jack Herlihy and Alistair MacRae)? A thoughtful, committed, but occasionally imperfectly acted rendition of some horrific facets of life in Hitler’s Germany. Brecht was one of the only voices portraying that world: it is ungenerous to complain that his picture is incomplete, lacking any insight into the element of authentic popular enthusiasm that kept the evil system working, focusing only on the terror, paranoia and intimidation suffered by a cross section of the people.
The disadvantage in this text, though, is definitely the danger of lapsing into camp ‘S&M’ dynamics in prison torture scenes, and into an excess of unsubtle gothic effects generally. But only one or two of the scenes seemed spoiled by a failure to rise to the demands of the acting in this genuinely high standard student production.
Krittika Bhattacharjee is a glowing highlight of Fear and Misery and has real, natural talent. She engages audience attention fully as a Jewish wife leaving her husband for his sake, as a slightly suspect maid, and in one or two other minor roles, not to mention the chorus, which throughout returns to mark out a scene change with a snippet of epic verse.
Dugie Young and Adam Scott Taylor are overall strong, and so is Will Valori in places. Molly Hart is very good. Lighting, costume and sound are expert; the translation was impeccable (to a German native speaker); the decision to work with braided whips and black leather, however, was perhaps too risky. But the play itself is historical psychology at its purest and most challenging. Go see it to explore, as one must, with honesty, the structures of the inner life that enabled and suffered Nazi ideology.