FARM HALL at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
★★★★
“a fascinating reconstruction of what might have been said”
Last year’s Jermyn Street Theatre production of Katherine Moar’s cerebral play journeys the short distance down Haymarket to take up residence at the majestic Theatre Royal.
The title Farm Hall takes its name from the real Cambridgeshire country residence in which a number of Germany’s top physicists are imprisoned at the end of the war and where their every word is recorded and scrutinised. The play is a fascinating reconstruction of what might have been said and how such a collection of brilliant men may have behaved. With the central character of Werner Heisenberg in common, Moar’s fascinating first play invites comparison with Michael Frayn’s brilliant Copenhagen.
The action is set entirely in Farm Hall’s downstairs drawing room; a room that first appears luscious with antique mahogany furniture, polished floorboards, and a Persian rug in front of the open fireplace, until one’s eyes are drawn to the damp on the walls and the peeling wallpaper (Designer Ceci Calf). Everything is softly lit (Lighting Designer Ben Ormerod) exuding a gentle period feel.
The six scientists, impeccably dressed in suits and ties, sit and stand around. It transpires they are rehearsing a scene from Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit just to fill the time. Later, we’ll see them reading, or playing chess or backgammon. One scientist amusingly sulks because they haven’t got Monopoly. There is surprisingly little talk about science. Director Stephen Unwin skilfully moves the six men around the room without ever hurrying the pace or making the room appear overcrowded.
At first it appears that the dashing Weizsäcker (Daniel Boyd) is the group’s ringleader, controlling the group’s activities and its conversation, and then Von Laue (David Yelland, delightfully plummy) as the senior scientist. Like a group of public-school boys, they fantasise about pretty girls, there are petty rivalries, even some slight bullying of the generally disliked Diebner (Julius D’Silva) – the lone experimental physicist amongst a majority of theoreticals. The empathic Hahn (Forbes Masson) tries to see that everyone gets along and Bagge (Archie Backhouse) prickles that he has the most of all to fear for the future. The six actors are all excellent, the dialogue flows and we are drawn in, fascinated by their individual stories.
And then the tone changes, a large shadow is cast over the gathering as the Americans drop the first atomic bomb. Each man reacts differently, Heisenberg (a mightily impressive Alan Cox) simply won’t believe it. Hahn is inconsolable and hints at suicide. And the conversation turns from games to something more serious. Did they really intend to create a bomb for the Nazis or did they just pretend to? Heisenberg ambiguously admits that both could be true and as the group collect their suitcases on their eventual release they are now asking themselves the impossible question: What is truth? And that is one question too big for any short play to answer.
FARM HALL at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Reviewed on 13th August 2024
by Phillip Money
Photography by Alex Brenner
Previously reviewed at this venue:
HEATHERS | ★★★ | July 2021
Farm Hall
Farm Hall
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