“An intensely moving drama with powerful cast performances”
Arthur Miller was an American playwright known for writing amongst others, The Crucible, Death of a Salesman and A View from the Bridge as well for being married to Marilyn Monroe. A lesser known work written in 1964 entitled Incident at Vichy is now playing at the Kings Head Theatre following a successful run at The Finborough earlier this year.
From 1940 to 1942, whilst Germany occupied northern France, Vichy France represented the unoccupied “Free Zone” that governed the southern part of the country. Vichy agreed to reduce its military forces and give gold, food, and supplies to Germany. French police were ordered to round up Jews and other “undesirables” such as communists, gypsies and political refugees.
CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT RYLANDER
This play looks at how a group of men react having been pulled off the streets for interrogation purposes during the early days of the alliance between the Vichy government and the Nazis. They sit squashed together on a white narrow bench in a white otherwise unremarkable room.
The characters are generally given basic names such as Gypsy, Boy, Old Jew, Waiter but represent a cross section of people affected by the changes in the country in which they live and now feel vulnerable.
All struggle to understand why they are there even though they quickly realise other than the Gypsy and an Austrian Prince, the other detainees are Jewish who fled to Vichy from the northern half of France. None are keen to enter any kind of conversation. However an artist chatters nervously in panic of what possibly lies ahead. This slowly forces others to engage with or to avoid him. His worries over the validity of his identity papers cause others to reveal the uncertainty of their own fate.
The atmosphere becomes increasingly bleak as rumours begin to be exchanged including that people are being transported to camps with furnaces in particular to burn Jews. It is hard for some to believe such an abhorrent act to be possible.
The collective hope that this identity check is just a routine one becomes harder to accept when an elderly, bearded Jew comes in. He speaks no words yet his obvious terror is clear to see. What isn’t apparently obvious is what he is clutching. It transpires to be a feather pillow which features strongly in Jewish folklore – each feather represents a rumour or secret that once left a mouth you do not know where it ends up and you can never get it back.
The tension mounts as the men share information, fears and ways to convince their interrogator or indeed to escape the room. The group gets smaller as few return from being interrogated. It is revealed that a decision about their fate is based whether they have been circumcised.
The whole play makes for uncomfortable watching for even if the viewer doesn’t have much knowledge of Vichy history they will understand the implications of marginalisation and The Holocaust.
Each actor, whether they have much or nothing to say, portrays their part with powerful credibility. It forces the audience to consider how awful it would have been to be in that time and place.
It is exceptionally well written and today resonates with events we are currently experiencing. Donald Trump recently said he was open to the idea for Muslims in the US to register on a database. How different then from Jews having to register in Nazi Germany?
Phil Willmott’s direction drives the tension and Theo Holloway’s sound brings an added menace to the work in particular with the slamming of the interrogation room door.
The only disappointment of the evening was that the theatre was oppressively hot and it did slightly distract from an otherwise excellent night out.
The play opens with all four characters on stage interacting with the music from the generation they are portraying. Although this is initially confusing each persona develops as the play unfolds and all eventually becomes clear!
Emily Thornton as “the Woman” delivers a brilliant monologue detailing her move from inner city London to Manchester in order to seek a new life for herself and find out what else is out there. As each of the remaining three are introduced, we find out how music influences and shapes the course of their lives.
They are all deeply passionate about the music of their time. Spanning 50 years we see how music shapes their lives, affects the decisions they make along the way and ultimately ties them together and deepens the bonds they have. As the storyline unfolds, we see the grandson seeking a new life and hope from the city his grandmother left behind all those years ago.
Rubie Ozanne as “the girl” delivers a perfect portrayal of a petulant and sassy teenager – incredibly believable with great stage presence.
The simple set and intimate venue means the movement, acting and music are intensified and you very quickly become drawn in by the characters. At times I felt that the storyline wasn’t fully developed … it was unclear as to why “the woman” was leaving London and thought her motivations could be better explained. I also felt that the use of the music could be further explored – it was such a key component to the plot I was expecting there to be more of it rather than short snippets! Just as a tune got me toe tapping it suddenly stopped! At 60 minutes with no interval this is a play that with a little bit of development could easily be a 5 star production.
With Aaron Price and Alexander Knott completing the outstanding acting from a talented young cast, Boxless Physical Theatre are clearly a talented bunch of actors and creatives – looking forward to seeing what they produce in the future.
Loop has words by Alexander Knott and moves by Zöe Grain Loop.
