“Stephen Unwin’s direction presents a deeply authentic sense of period, supported by Ceci Calf’s gently peeling wallpapered set and forties costumes”
Katherine Moar’s Farm Hall is a history play about six German physicists detained in a Cambridge great house in 1945. Directed by Stephen Unwin, and performed by the kind of acting talent theatregoers have come to expect at the Jermyn Street Theatre, audience members may be forgiven for thinking that they are about to watch the sequel to Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen. It is true that both plays are concerned with the practical, and moral consequences, of making an atomic bomb. Yet Copenhagen and Farm Hall are entirely different plays, even though both feature Werner Heisenberg as a central character.
In Farm Hall, Moar uses her historical training to present a play based on indisputable facts. The six physicists (three of them Nobel prize winners) were detained by victorious Allied Forces at the end of World War Two. The house they occupy is extensively bugged, and their conversations transcribed—rich material for historians. Nevertheless, these conversations by themselves do not make compelling theatre, even when the subject matter revolves around whether a world could live or die. In Farm Hall, we are presented with a series of domestic situations in which five theoretical physicists (and one experimental physicist) play at amateur dramatics, fix a broken piano, and play chess, among other mundane matters. Their discussions range, as you might expect, from missing their families and their homeland, to dodging around the subject of whether they were members of, and believers in, the Nazi Party.
Throughout the first act in Farm Hall, we focus on the history. But the urgency that makes a drama compelling, the pressing need for action, is largely absent until the beginning of Act Two. At this point, the drama comes together because the unthinkable has happened. The Americans have built and detonated an atomic bomb over Japan. The abstract concerns of theoretical physics are suddenly replaced by pressing issues of moral philosophy—and geopolitics. The world is now a few seconds to midnight away from nuclear annihilation. The difference between Frayn’s play and Moar’s is that Frayn gets to the heart of the matter right from the start. He sees that a representation of the physicists’ concerns works better in an abstract place, rather than a real one. His title Copenhagen is ironic, Moar’s Farm Hall is not.
Despite the lack of dramatic tension for much of Farm Hall, however, there is plenty to admire in this production at the Jermyn Street Theatre. Stephen Unwin’s direction presents a deeply authentic sense of period, supported by Ceci Calf’s gently peeling wallpapered set and forties costumes. The actors do not have German accents, but Unwin is wise to steer his actors away from anything that might distract from the weighty subjects under discussion. The performances are terrific in this well rounded ensemble. Alan Cox as Heisenberg in Farm Hall has the difficult job of differentiating his character from the Heisenberg in Copenhagen. In Farm Hall, Cox plays the role as just one of a group of men thrown together in difficult circumstances. Nevertheless, Cox’s Heisenberg is suitably complex, conflicted, and holds the drama together, as expected. Julius D’Silva’s deftly managed Diebner is the foil in the group. He is the experimental physicist (and therefore looked down on by the theorists.) Diebner is also an acknowledged member of the Nazi Party, full of angry justification. Forbes Masson’s Hahn carries the guilt for all of them, and is both sad and joyful at the news he has been awarded a Nobel Prize. David Yelland’s Von Laue, Archie Backhouse’s Bagge, and Daniel Boyd’s Weizsäcker round out a group widely separated in age and politics. They give convincing performances as men caught up in events that had little to do with their work as physicists, and yet everything to do with the future of the world. These characters in Farm Hall makes us think the unthinkable: if we had the knowledge of how to destroy the planet, how would we use it?
Farm Hall is the stuff of nightmares, set in relative comfort in a Cambridgeshire stately home. It is this paradoxical presentation, and the strong sense of period, that will make the story attractive to fans of history plays.
“undeniably good fun and any viewer will be blown away by the sheer grandeur of the production”
What if Romeo and Juliet didn’t end so tragically? The hit West End musical & Juliet (directed by Luke Sheppard) sets about answering exactly that by giving Juliet (Miriam-Teak Lee) a second chance at life. When Shakespeare (Oliver Tompsett) is convinced by his wife Anne Hathaway (Cassidy Janson) to write the play’s famous conclusion, Juliet and her best friends Anne, May (Alex Thomas-Smith) and Nurse (the incredible Keala Settle of Hands on a Hardbody fame) embark on a wild trip to Paris to live out their lives without restriction. A love triangle with the sweet Francois (Tim Mahendran) soon unfolds and things get all the more complicated when Romeo (Tom Francis) comes back to life…
The fantastical reimagining hinges around a selection of world-famous pop hits by the Swedish producer and writer Max Martin. Song after song is hurled at the audience, some more fitting than others to the scenario at hand. The Backstreet Boys’ ‘I Want It That Way’ is reprised several times to really highlight the message of the musical – the importance of making your own choice. Demi Lovato’s ‘Confident’ is a particularly enjoyable number which Juliet and Francois belt out with gusto and ‘Oops!…I Did It Again’ is comically employed when Juliet finds herself engaged after only one day of romance…again.
Max Martin’s songs are great crowd pleasers and a lot of fun but the jukebox musical always suffers by its song limitations and the songs already feel dated only three years after the musical’s release. There is also no one song that packs a real punch. The incredibly strong voice of Lee is unfortunately underused and apart from the finale song ‘Roar’ (by Katy Perry), our lead does not have a big number that she can really sink her teeth into. The band – led by Patrick Hurley – do a phenomenal job of keeping up with the incredible pace of the production with 29 total songs and countless other reprisals.
Lee is phenomenal – we will no doubt be seeing much more of her. Janson and Tompsett have great chemistry and expertly guide the story on its ways. Settle is, as expected, an absolute powerhouse, leading on laughs but also offering particularly touching moments with both Juliet and her lover Lance, Francois’ father (Julius D’Silva). The choreography (Jennifer Weber) is very strong and brings a real energy to the production.
The cast should also be praised for its diversity – in both gender expression and ethnicity. It is refreshing to see so many different types of people on stage and Janson’s proclamation that someone’s gender and sexuality is none of our business garners cheers from the West End audience.
The set and staging (Soutra Gilmour) is second to none. Objects and set pieces fly in and out; characters are lifted into the sky on chandeliers and balconies; pyrotechnics, glitter and confetti rains galore. The incredible production value makes certain scenes – mostly notably the finale – feel more like a concert than our typical theatre show. Accompanied by adventurous video and projection design by Andrezej Goulding, the audience is fully immersed in Juliet’s Parisian adventure. The lighting (Howard Hudson) too contributes to the great spectacle with strobes and spotlights a regular feature and Paloma Young’s neo-Elizabethan costumes do wonders to bring the whole show together.
Some issue can be taken with the show’s appearance of being a feminist corrective to Shakespeare when in fact Juliet once again finds herself centering her life around a man albeit a much nicer one than playboy Romeo. Moreover, amongst all the excitement, Juliet is left without almost any personality. Her characterization is akin to a princess in a pantomime, lacking any real goals or aims. It is a shame she does not have more vigour and that the writers did not think to give her some sort of career-orientated plot, for example.
& Juliet is undeniably good fun and any viewer will be blown away by the sheer grandeur of the production. It is just unfortunate that the general message of the importance agency is a good one is sometimes underpinned by the characters and plot itself.
