★★★★★

“a joyous four-hander with deeply nuanced characters and a master’s eye for pace, plot and humour”

Can history change? Our understanding of it certainly can. One little piece of information, one small scrap of evidence, can shift the whole narrative. In the case of ‘Rosenbaum’s Rescue’, it is the Danish occupation in 1940 and subsequent ‘rescue’ (or ‘flight’) of Danish Jews across the Øresund to Sweden that comes into question. How important are the myths we create for ourselves? What traces of history do we let steer out lives in the future?

William Fricker’s gorgeously wooden design places the action in a Danish country house that puts IKEA catalogues to shame. As light glides in through the skylight above, married couple Abraham (David Bamber) and Sara (Julia Swift) are preparing for a visit from their son Henrik. Before he arrives, old friend (and lover) Lars (Neil McCaul) arrives with German daughter Eva (Dorothea Myer-Bennett) to interview Abraham for a book he is writing on Danish resistance. Snow and a power cut keep the group together longer than planned, and as Danish history gets uncovered, there are more family secrets waiting around the corner.

A. Bodin Saphir has constructed a joyous four-hander with deeply nuanced characters and a master’s eye for pace, plot and humour. It’s a witty and erudite production that, despite its naturalistic and restricted setting, bounds with energy, is stunning to look at, and keeps you guessing until the end. Who is Henrik’s real father? What exactly was Abraham’s relationship to Lars’ father? As the pieces of each person’s history fall into place, we understand the depth of the relationships on display. Bamber plays the put-upon husband well, and the history between him and Lars is self-evident in how the actors interact. Myer-Bennett provides much appreciated cynical wit (as well as her own ‘dramatic’ reveal) and Swift counsels and advises her way through it all. “Come and help me in the kitchen” becomes her catchphrase to create space and give her two cents worth.

Kate Fahy has done a stunning job with direction. Moments of busy action keep the piece moving, but even in stillness, the ensemble keep the audience well in their grasp. Family drama has never been so gripping. ‘Rosenbaum’s Rescue’ is a show with heart, spirit, and style and ought not to be missed, especially for anyone with a passing interest in new perspectives on a war we all think we know well.

Reviewed by Joseph Prestwich

Photography by Mark Douet

The Dame

Park Theatre

Reviewed – 4th January 2019

★★★★

“His sense of wonder as he looks out to sea is enchanting and the songs are full of feeling, nostalgia and sadness”

This one man show, performed by Peter Duncan, and written by his daughter Katie, was a big hit at the Edinburgh Fringe last year. And I can really see why. It is an intensely personal piece, based on Duncan’s family history. His parents were music hall performers who ran summer seasons in seaside resorts such as Brighton and Scarborough, and did pantomime in the winters. It was a hard working life, the performers built the sets, made the costumes and often did three shows a day.

Growing up in this world shaped Peter Duncan, the entertainer, and his daughter remembers seeing him in pantomimes and musicals when she was growing up. She wrote this challenging piece for him and they have worked on it together for a couple of years now. The process brought back many memories for them, especially for Peter, and it does the same for many of the audience, to judge from the conversations afterwards and my own experience. The evocation of the British seaside in the summer, of Punch and Judy, sandy sandwiches and the smell of the sea, was beautifully done. I remembered the feel of waves on my feet, the smell of suncream and the delight of watching seaside entertainers in the open air, things I haven’t thought about for a long time.

There is delicious humour and cheekiness in the beginning, when Duncan enters as a Dame in full costume. He has just come off stage into his dressing room, with the sound of applause still buoying him up. His character is called Ronnie, and he lets us into his life and his love for the old traditions and performers such as Dan Leno and Chaplin. He describes the makeup as his war paint, the costumes as his armour, and as he removes them, the layers of his memory peel back. We see him as a young boy, badly treated by his father, longing for his mother, and it’s heartbreaking. His sense of wonder as he looks out to sea is enchanting and the songs are full of feeling, nostalgia and sadness.

This is a show that demands a lot of the performer, journeying from joyful play through loneliness, rage, desperation and acceptance. And Duncan is magnificent. The set (Peter Humphrey), lighting (James Smith), sound (Georgia Duncan) and costumes (Duncan Reeves) work together to build a believable world for Ronnie. The dressing room is the frame on which the memories hang, conjured by lighting changes and sound that support Ronnie’s voyage through his past. It’s all beautifully done, and ably pulled together by director Ian Talbot. An excellent start to the new year.

Park Theatre

Reviewed – 15th January 2019

★★★★★

“a joyous four-hander with deeply nuanced characters and a master’s eye for pace, plot and humour”

Reviewed by Joseph Prestwich

Photography by Mark Douet

Rosenbaum’s Rescue

Park Theatre until 9th February

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Park Theatre

Reviewed – 4th January 2019

★★★★

“His sense of wonder as he looks out to sea is enchanting and the songs are full of feeling, nostalgia and sadness”

Reviewed by Katre

Photography by Robert Workman

The Dame

Park Theatre until 26th January

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: