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

★★★

“Without fanfare, it delivers a sensitive, real portrayal of grief, anger and loss.”

The Wetsuitman begins as a farce. The three actors metatheatrically ponder who their characters are to be, settling on caricatures from a send up of a Nordic Noir. In this, The Wetsuitman begins as one thing we think we know, so long as you religiously watched The Killing a decade ago. But by the final scene 80 minutes later, we are a world away from a comforting murder mystery and are forced to face the stark, human consequences of the alienation of refugees across Europe.

This is a true and extraordinary story, translated to stage with some brave directorial choices. The four scenes are almost better understood as vignettes, and while occasionally confusing, telling a story this vast with just three actors and three orange chairs on an otherwise bare stage is certainly an achievement.

The play, written by Freek Mariën and translated by David McKay, borrows heavily from an article by journalist Anders Fjellberg, published in Norwegian paper Dagbladet. Reading that piece this morning, I recognised many of the lines from the stage. These verbatim quotes give the play heart, with idiosyncratic comments and unfiltered observations that can be profound, prejudiced and humourous in turn.

Each scene, from bumbling detectives on a Norwegian coastline, to a mourning family in Syria, has a significantly different theatrical direction (Trine Garrett). The piece lends itself to this patchwork style, with no single character serving as an anchor throughout. However, this sometimes meant I had to keep checking my notes and the cast list to keep up. For example, in the second scene, the cast switches between fourteen different talking heads, many of which are simply credited as ‘another salesperson’. It’s not a surprise that some of these are more distinct than others.

The tone changes again in the third scene which is set in the Calais Jungle refugee camp and for the only time in the piece, the actors are amplified with microphones. Only their voices are used to guide the audience through the Jungle, as Nikiforos Fintzos’ sound and Amy Daniel’s lighting throughout is kept minimal. Bringing out the microphones felt like an unnecessary and fussy addition; I half expected they would augment singing, or some other vocal effects that never came.

All stagey conventions and tech fall away by the final scene, which features excellent naturalistic acting from the cast of three – David Djemal, Eugenia Low and Youness Bouzinab. Without fanfare, it delivers a sensitive, real portrayal of grief, anger and loss.

Throughout the piece, significance is given to the role of the press in homage to investigative journalists behind the The Wetsuitman article. It was journalists who managed to solve this missing persons case when the authorities in Norway, the Netherlands, France and the UK could not recognise a person who ‘officially was not even here’. This point is for the most part subtly made, as the play keeps journalists off-stage, with their interviewees and sources only portrayed. Only a couple of times does the writing lean towards a larger conspiracy of ‘threats’ hanging over characters who speak to the press. This feels like a detraction from otherwise fair criticism of the inadequacies and apathy within the official investigative forces.

The Wetsuitman is a piece that lends itself to reflection and concentration. Though it was hard to pick out all the details live, after going back to the source material I was struck by how much was faithfully packed into the play. It might not have needed all of this, but I am glad they tried.

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 WETSUITMAN at the Arcola Theatre

★★★

“Without fanfare, it delivers a sensitive, real portrayal of grief, anger and loss.”

THE WETSUITMAN at the Arcola Theatre

Reviewed on 29th August 2023

by Rosie Thomas

Photography by Tim Morozzo

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The Wetsuitman

The Wetsuitman