ENIGMA VARIATIONS
OSO Arts Centre
★★★★★
“Quite simply, a beautifully composed production”
For an early performance of Edward Elgar’s orchestral work “Enigma Variations”, the composer himself added a programme note to help explain the title of the piece. He never really answered the question, however, beyond the fact that the musical variations are based on ‘some particular personality or on some incident known only by two people’. The latter is, indeed, pertinent to Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s brilliantly sharp and finely constructed two-hander of the same title. Translated by Jeremy Sams, “Enigma Variations” is an intricate tale of love, loss and obsession which unfolds in ever surprising reveals and twists that quite literally take your breath away. The challenge of Elgar’s ‘Variations’ involves a hidden melody. Schmitt’s play contains a whole host of hidden undercurrents that rise to the surface with a virtuoso composer’s pitch-perfect tuning and timing.
Set on an island in the middle of the Norwegian Sea, love is indeed a mystery for our joint protagonists. Nobel prize-winning author, Abel Znorko (Toby Wynn-Davies), lives in isolation. His latest book is a series of letters charting a love affair that is rendered perfect by the physical separation of the lovers; a conscious decision by Znorko fifteen years previously. Into his seclusion bursts Erik Larsen (Jacob Hutchings), a journalist who has been granted a rare interview. The only spoiler I am going to give you is that this interview is a pretext, and one of the gentler twists in the plot. The encounter soon turns into quite a vicious truth game, the two men sparring like boxers, both capable of delivering dramatic punches.
Toby Wynn-Davies truly dazzles us with his portrayal of Znorko. His delivery of the acerbic text snaps like a lion tamer’s whip, while his expressions – a wild flash of the eye – can give a deadlier sting. Wynn-Davies is unafraid to follow the dialogue into the depths it takes him. Razor sharp aphorisms give way to heartfelt honesty and shattering fragility. Only when the lies we tell ourselves are peeled away can we really see our true selves – and the reality of the ones we thought we knew and loved. Instrumental to this self-discovery is Jacob Hutching’s depiction of Erik Larsen. Initially a kind of stooge to Znorko’s misanthropic wit, Hutchings skilfully steers his character into positions of superiority, setting traps and then stabbing his prey with truths that floor Znorko. The two characters are worlds apart but are intimately linked by a love that has cornered them both.
Lydia Sax’s slick and sensitive direction is perfectly in tune with the dynamics of the writing. There are some wonderfully comic moments amidst the poignancy. We are in Edward Albee territory at times, Ibsen at others. There is a traditional feel, but peppered with modern verbal gunfire (and literal gunfire too). Matteo Mastrandrea’s set is a fragmented mess of books, furniture and music memorabilia; bleached of colour – a neutral backdrop on which the two characters can impose their own meanings and memories onto the objects that surround them. An old gramophone plays snippets of Elgar’s music, but it is when Wynn-Davies sits at an upright piano and plays that we are deeply moved – a symbol of the emotional impact of this play. A hymn, a eulogy almost, to lost love. Is Znorko playing for himself, his lover, for Larsen’s lost love, or even for Larsen. Or for us?
Love is a universal theme, yet with many, many variations. We are spectators but the skill of the performers draws us into the twists and turns. There are audible gasps from the audience, and the authenticity of the acting make us believe they, too, are equally surprised. What is no surprise, though, is the standing ovation at curtain call. You’d be hard pushed to find a better night out at the theatre than this one. A show that encapsulates the essence of the art, away from the glitz and mind-numbing budgets of the West End. Quite simply, a beautifully composed production. No enigma there.
ENIGMA VARIATIONS
OSO Arts Centre
Reviewed on 8th November 2025
by Jonathan Evans
Photography by Henry Hu
Previously reviewed at this venue:
THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE | ★★★★ | April 2025
