FAREWELL MR HAFFMANN

Park Theatre

★★★★

“Tension and relief are hallmarks of this production as director Oscar Toeman steers us through the shifting moods with slick clarity”

There is a recurring line in Jean-Phillipe Daguerre’s play, “Farewell Mister Haffmann”, that is reprised by nearly all the characters at some point. ‘Courage is stronger than fear’. The quotation could have come from the hand of Mark Twain, Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela. In some paraphrased version it has probably been cited by many of our respected world leaders and philosophers. It carries the danger of becoming a glib, self-help-manual style platitude, but in the context of this play (translated by Jeremy Sams) it is a crucial motif. Sometimes delivered comically, but more often with poignancy; it exemplifies the fearless way in which Daguerre tackles his subject matter – turning a global narrative into an intimate, human story that is funny – almost farcical. But don’t be complacent. It can suddenly turn on you with the unpredictability of a dangerous dog.

Inspired by Daguerre’s great-grandparents who hid Polish Jews from the Nazis, it is set in Paris over two years from May 1942. Joseph Haffmann (Alex Waldmann), having sent his wife and children to Geneva, decides to hand over his jewellery shop to his loyal, hardworking, non-Jewish assistant, Pierre Vigneau (Michael Fox). It comes with a condition, however. Pierre and his wife Isabelle (Jennifer Kirby) must agree to move into Joseph’s house and hide him in the cellar until normality is resumed. A further twist has Pierre lay down his own condition. His marriage is childless. Unable to get his wife pregnant, he asks Joseph to do the honours as his side of the bargain.

It is all very matter of fact. The scenes flash by in a series of short bursts. Patently, Isabelle is initially reluctant of the proposition made by her husband on her behalf. Less obviously, Pierre is modestly reticent to take over the business. The conversations are awkward and wrought with moral dilemmas. The decisions are made during the semi-dark scene transitions, so we see the causes and the consequences. Kirby is marvellous as Isabelle, presenting the fragile façade that all is well, but letting us know that it will shatter at any moment. Fox’s Pierre, nervous yet jovial at first, slips into angst and jealousy. Whilst his wife does the ‘deed’ with Haffmann, he goes out tap dancing; a routine that he uses to distract himself from what’s going on in the cellar. As the months go by, the dance steps acquire more and more freneticism. All three performances remarkably show the unravelling nature of each personality as the stakes are raised.

It is a jagged little piece. Not every issue is followed through successfully, but the character arcs are well formed. This feels very much like a three hander. Until art-loving, Nazi ambassador Otto Abetz (Nigel Harman) arrives at the eleventh hour. His presence has already been felt and has been a major source of contention between the others so far. Everything changes when Otto arrives for dinner, along with his loose-tongued wife, Suzanne (Jemima Rooper). A dinner served with huge side orders of tension, broken only by Suzanne’s coarse and tactless interjections. Rooper is a sheer delight with her precise comic timing and delivery. Harman, however, keeps her in check with a performance that chills. We teeter between wanting to laugh or letting our jaws drop to the floor in shock. The stillness of Harman’s portrayal conceals a simmering and dangerous mind.

The shift in tone works remarkably well as we are caught as much off guard as the characters within the play. Tension and relief are hallmarks of this production as director Oscar Toeman steers us through the shifting moods with slick clarity; while Asaf Zohar’s sound and Christopher Nairne’s lighting slice the action into glorious bit-sized vignettes. It is a unique portrayal of a much-explored piece of history, made all the more pertinent and unsettling by its light-hearted intimacy. A hasty epilogue slightly dampens the overall effect, but is arguably necessary to cement where Daguerre’s – and our – sympathies lie. We can only imagine the choices people had to make at such a perilous time in history. “Farewell Mister Haffmann” fires our imaginations brilliantly and powerfully. Refreshingly short and sharp but full of savage twists, it is shockingly funny.

FAREWELL MR HAFFMANN

Park Theatre

Reviewed on 10th March 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at this venue:

ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE YOUNG | ★★★ | March 2025

ANTIGONE | ★★★★★ | February 2025

CYRANO | ★★★ | December 2024

BETTE & JOAN | ★★★★ | December 2024

GOING FOR GOLD | ★★★★ | November 2024

THE FORSYTE SAGA | ★★★★★ | October 2024

AUTUMN | ★★½ | October 2024

23.5 HOURS | ★★★ | September 2024

BITTER LEMONS | ★★★½ | August 2024

WHEN IT HAPPENS TO YOU | ★★★★★ | August 2024

FAREWELL MR HAFFMANN

★★★★★

“fresh and funny and angry”

Abigail’s mother has died and she can’t afford the funeral. This simple fact drives a play that spirals in different directions, examining class inequality, the consequences of revealing your trauma for art commissions, the different sides of a parent that children can experience. All of this is considered through a warm and darkly comic lens.

Abigail (Nicole Sawyerr) is a writer and as the middle-class theatre commissioner keeps reminding her, she is a writer who grew up on a council estate. As her brother keeps reminding her, she is the only one from ‘around here’ who goes to this theatre. The disconnect between audience and experience is stark. Realising that the only way she can afford a funeral is to get a commission (the theatre didn’t like her piece about gay bugs in space, they want something through her ‘unique lens’) Abigail finds herself writing a play about a woman who can’t afford her mother’s funeral. But as the theatre people workshop her experiences into caricature and the money seems ever elusive, Abigail must wrestle with the ethics of what she is doing, while also grieving her mother.

The themes are complicated and hard-hitting. There are so many moments in this play where you want a chance to stop and think, to consider the point that’s just been made. But that’s not allowed, the pace is careening, a whirlwind of grief and exploitation that mirrors the chaotic aftermath of a death.

Kelly Jones’ script is layered, complex and slippery. The jokes are packed in, managing to have us laughing through gritted teeth at the out of touch theatre people, and laughing with moist eyes at some of the softer, quieter moments. It’s an angry script, and rightly so. Many people won’t know how expensive funerals have become (the costs have risen 126% in the last 20 years) and might not know about what happens if you can’t afford it. This is a story that’s worth telling, but by adding the complexity of Abigail wrestling with telling it, Jones elevates this piece to a broader critique of class and the arts and the cluelessness of those in power.

Charlotte Bennett’s direction is energetic and slick. The three performers dart about the stage, their tangled emotions explored in masterful light and shade. Sawyerr as Abigail quivers with tension, trapped in an impossible situation. Samuel Armfield is maddening as the theatre commissioner, and extremely moving as Abigail’s brother Darren, whose memories of their mother are more complicated and his grief harder to grapple with. Debra Baker plays both Linda the mother and the Actor who will perform as the mother in the play Abigail is writing. This is a stroke of genius to twist the knife of Abigail’s pain. Baker slips effortlessly between the two, as well as doing a hilarious turn as a set builder, throwing mud everywhere for the ‘authentic working-class experience’.

Rhys Jarman’s set begins simply, with a small two-levelled stage at the centre. As the play within a play develops, the set design becomes more involved and a grave is revealed. There is something sickeningly powerful about an on-stage grave. It’s a brilliant choice.

This play is fresh and funny and angry. It deservedly won a Scotsman Fringe First Award for new writing at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe. In combining the universal and the specific it’s found a powerful niche. It’s just shy of harrowing, but it’s certainly worth your time.

FAREWELL MR HAFFMANN

Park Theatre

★★★★

“Tension and relief are hallmarks of this production as director Oscar Toeman steers us through the shifting moods with slick clarity”

FAREWELL MR HAFFMANN

Park Theatre

Reviewed on 10th March 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at this venue:

FAREWELL MR HAFFMANN

FAREWELL MR HAFFMANN

FAREWELL MR HAFFMANN

MY MOTHER’S FUNERAL

The Yard Theatre

★★★★★

“fresh and funny and angry”

MY MOTHER’S FUNERAL

The Yard Theatre

Reviewed on 30th January 2025

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Nicola Young

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MY MOTHER’S FUNERAL

MY MOTHER’S FUNERAL

MY MOTHER’S FUNERAL