THE BRIEF LIFE & MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF BORIS III, KING OF BULGARIA at the Arcola Theatre

★★★★★

“The small but mighty cast of this show present impassioned performances leaving nothing more to be desired”

The Brief Life and Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria doesn’t just pack a lot into its title. In just under an hour and half, Joseph Cullen and Sasha Wilson’s narrative questions the stories we tell ourselves about allied heroism during World War II, introduces other non-allied, versions of events and argues that some of the axis powers may not have been purely evil but nuanced and messy and maybe even trying to do their best in a bad situation. That may seem like heavy content for a musical comedy but it’s tactfully done, sending up the Third Reich whilst being sensitive to the horrors of the holocaust.

Boris III, deals with the reign of the eponymous monarch of Bulgaria during World War II, where 50,000 jews were saved from being sent to concentration camps outside the country. As the tale is told, the King didn’t have many options and was backed into a corner to ally with the Germans under pressure to regain lands his father had lost in the previous war. Whilst Boris wants what’s best for all his people, his Cabinet work in collaboration with Hitler to arrange the deportation of jews from Bulgaria and these newly acquired lands to camps elsewhere in the Reich. Cullen, who also plays Boris, portrays the King as a slightly pathetic character, albeit with a dutiful initiative to serve, trying his best to stop the murder of his people with the help of a few ordinary citizens and the church.

The small but mighty cast of this show present impassioned performances leaving nothing more to be desired. The most interesting portrayals are not evil without nuance, and director and dramaturg Hannah Hauer-King’s choices in switching each performer from one character to another adds comedy to what is already a razor-sharp script. Take David Leopold’s portrayal of Belev, the ruthless commissar of Jewish Affairs responsible for the rounding up and deportation of Jewish people. He is accused of being Jewish himself, a rumour he furiously denies, and you can see in just a brief exchange what might motivate his actions. And then, like the spin of dime, Leopold is the head of the Bulgarian church singing a country-inspired, Jesus-loving tune as jewish people flock to be christened in a plot to avoid deportation. Lawrence Boothman’s high-camp Prime Minister Filov is spine-tingling sinister and brings to mind Hannah Arendt’s banality of evil as he gets excited about the pen he will buy as a reward for skilfully manipulating Boris to implement the Fuhrer’s wishes.

“this show has all the makings of a sell-out with transfers to come”

An unashamedly revisionist or modern take on events, the female characters are forthright and pivotal in the plot. The King’s wife, played by co-writer Sasha Wilson amongst other more chilling roles, lends a consoling ear and is deft at providing a supportive proverb or three. The co-conspirators who infiltrate the government bureaucracy and uncover the plans to deport the jews are also women. It’s clearly intended that Clare Fraenkel as a Jewish musician represents the role ordinary people played in creating a popular uprising that influenced the government and king to stop the deportations.

Set and lighting (Sorcha Corcoran and Will Alder respectively) are simple and modern. Filament bulbs hang over the stage and King Boris’ throne remains on stage throughout leaving us in doubt who this show is about. The costumes by Helen Stewart in contrast are typical 1940s garb – pinstripe suits, heavy wool coats and military medals galore.

Music is used throughout to enhance the drama and create atmosphere, rather than drive the plot. Above all it’s unbelievable how talented each of the performers is. Not only playing multiple roles, but singing and playing flutes, guitars and fiddles too.

Despite a rather abrupt ending that doesn’t really explain what led to 50,000 Bulgarian Jews being saved, this show has all the makings of a sell-out with transfers to come – don’t hesitate and get over to the Arcola to be tickled silly and enlightened on alternative histories before it’s too late!

THE BRIEF LIFE & MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF BORIS III, KING OF BULGARIA at the Arcola Theatre

Reviewed on 27th September 2023

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Will Alder

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The Wetsuitman | ★★★ | August 2023

Union | ★★★ | July 2023

Duck | ★★★★ | June 2023

Possession | ★★★★★ | June 2023

Under The Black Rock | ★★★ | March 2023

The Mistake | ★★★★ | January 2023

The Poltergeist | ★★½ | October 2022

The Apology | ★★★★ | September 2022

L’Incoronazione Di Poppea | ★★★★ | July 2022

Rainer | ★★★★★ | October 2021

The Brief Life

Click here to read all our latest reviews

★★★

“Thierrée’s skillset appears to be underused here, and her customary charisma is diluted”

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the ‘rest cure’ was a popular and radical treatment for many mental disorders, particularly hysteria or depression. Later proven to have no benefit at all, it was almost exclusively imposed on women by male physicians. One such practitioner was Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell who treated the American writer, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, for post-natal depression, confining her to bed and banning any type of stimulus including reading, writing, painting or any social contact with the outside world. Yes – you guessed right – this just made matters worse. Fortunately, Gilman was one of the more forward-thinking feminists of the time and, after three months, defied the doctor’s orders, aware of how close she was to a complete mental breakdown. Her experience gave rise to the autobiographical novella “The Yellow Wallpaper”.

With echoes of Edgar Allan Poe, the book was categorised as a work of ‘horror fiction’ while also being hailed as a condemnation of male control in society at the time. The themes might sound dated, but in Stephanie Mohr’s staging at the Coronet Theatre, it strikes fresh chords in an age where ‘gaslighting’ is very much a buzz word. The atmosphere that filters through Gilman’s Gothic book is faithfully recreated. Instead of using the main doors to the auditorium, we are led through a dimly lit room, part nursery, part Hammer film set, the narrator’s disjointed voice leaking out of hidden speakers in the walls.

We next meet the narrator on the stage, in the form of Aurélia Thierrée. A young mother, she is confined in an attic nursery in a remote country mansion by her physician husband. At first resigned to her condition – “what can one do?” she repeatedly asks – she becomes increasingly defiant as her mental stability declines. She becomes obsessed with the wallpaper, eventually seeing a woman trapped within the patterns that she must attempt to set free. Mike Winship’s immersive and all-surrounding sound design is chilling and certainly sets the tone of the piece. While Thierrée prowls the stage, the woman she sees in the wallpaper is represented by dancer and choreographer Fukiko Takase. An extremely clever concept is in play here that confines Takase to the walls of the stage, intermittently breaking free. The effect is unsettling and powerful, reinforcing the allegorical nature of Gilman’s writing.

Ultimately it is Gilman’s text that drives the piece – which is a shame. I last saw Aurélia Thierrée at the Coronet just before lockdown in the stunningly mesmerising and dreamlike “Bells and Spells” in which she starred. Expectations are naturally high, but Thierrée’s skillset appears to be underused here, and her customary charisma is diluted, perhaps by these very expectations. A grandmaster of dance, cabaret, circus and magic, she is confined by the sole medium of the spoken word she is given. She does manage to depict, quite exceptionally, the sense of claustrophobia and disintegration, but the piece lacks the ‘Aurélian’ stamp we would hope for from this collaboration.

The production remains strong throughout, and undeniably atmospheric. But rather than hypnotic it occasionally veers towards the soporific. The concept is ingenious, the staging remarkable and the setting extraordinary. But there’s something ultimately unconvincing in the delivery that papers over the true essence of what this show could be.

THE BRIEF LIFE & MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF BORIS III, KING OF BULGARIA at the Arcola Theatre

★★★★★

“The small but mighty cast of this show present impassioned performances leaving nothing more to be desired”

“this show has all the makings of a sell-out with transfers to come”

THE BRIEF LIFE & MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF BORIS III, KING OF BULGARIA at the Arcola Theatre

Reviewed on 27th September 2023

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Will Alder

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The Brief Life

The Brief Life

THE YELLOW WALLPAPER at The Coronet Theatre

★★★

“Thierrée’s skillset appears to be underused here, and her customary charisma is diluted”

THE YELLOW WALLPAPER at The Coronet Theatre

Reviewed on 26th September 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Hugo Glendinning

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper

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