Tag Archives: Will Alder

The Brief Life

The Brief Life & Mysterious Death Of Boris III, King Of Bulgaria

★★★★★

Arcola Theatre

THE BRIEF LIFE & MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF BORIS III, KING OF BULGARIA at the Arcola Theatre

★★★★★

The Brief Life

“The small but mighty cast of this show present impassioned performances leaving nothing more to be desired”

The Brief Life and Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria doesn’t just pack a lot into its title. In just under an hour and half, Joseph Cullen and Sasha Wilson’s narrative questions the stories we tell ourselves about allied heroism during World War II, introduces other non-allied, versions of events and argues that some of the axis powers may not have been purely evil but nuanced and messy and maybe even trying to do their best in a bad situation. That may seem like heavy content for a musical comedy but it’s tactfully done, sending up the Third Reich whilst being sensitive to the horrors of the holocaust.

Boris III, deals with the reign of the eponymous monarch of Bulgaria during World War II, where 50,000 jews were saved from being sent to concentration camps outside the country. As the tale is told, the King didn’t have many options and was backed into a corner to ally with the Germans under pressure to regain lands his father had lost in the previous war. Whilst Boris wants what’s best for all his people, his Cabinet work in collaboration with Hitler to arrange the deportation of jews from Bulgaria and these newly acquired lands to camps elsewhere in the Reich. Cullen, who also plays Boris, portrays the King as a slightly pathetic character, albeit with a dutiful initiative to serve, trying his best to stop the murder of his people with the help of a few ordinary citizens and the church.

The small but mighty cast of this show present impassioned performances leaving nothing more to be desired. The most interesting portrayals are not evil without nuance, and director and dramaturg Hannah Hauer-King’s choices in switching each performer from one character to another adds comedy to what is already a razor-sharp script. Take David Leopold’s portrayal of Belev, the ruthless commissar of Jewish Affairs responsible for the rounding up and deportation of Jewish people. He is accused of being Jewish himself, a rumour he furiously denies, and you can see in just a brief exchange what might motivate his actions. And then, like the spin of dime, Leopold is the head of the Bulgarian church singing a country-inspired, Jesus-loving tune as jewish people flock to be christened in a plot to avoid deportation. Lawrence Boothman’s high-camp Prime Minister Filov is spine-tingling sinister and brings to mind Hannah Arendt’s banality of evil as he gets excited about the pen he will buy as a reward for skilfully manipulating Boris to implement the Fuhrer’s wishes.

“this show has all the makings of a sell-out with transfers to come”

An unashamedly revisionist or modern take on events, the female characters are forthright and pivotal in the plot. The King’s wife, played by co-writer Sasha Wilson amongst other more chilling roles, lends a consoling ear and is deft at providing a supportive proverb or three. The co-conspirators who infiltrate the government bureaucracy and uncover the plans to deport the jews are also women. It’s clearly intended that Clare Fraenkel as a Jewish musician represents the role ordinary people played in creating a popular uprising that influenced the government and king to stop the deportations.

Set and lighting (Sorcha Corcoran and Will Alder respectively) are simple and modern. Filament bulbs hang over the stage and King Boris’ throne remains on stage throughout leaving us in doubt who this show is about. The costumes by Helen Stewart in contrast are typical 1940s garb – pinstripe suits, heavy wool coats and military medals galore.

Music is used throughout to enhance the drama and create atmosphere, rather than drive the plot. Above all it’s unbelievable how talented each of the performers is. Not only playing multiple roles, but singing and playing flutes, guitars and fiddles too.

Despite a rather abrupt ending that doesn’t really explain what led to 50,000 Bulgarian Jews being saved, this show has all the makings of a sell-out with transfers to come – don’t hesitate and get over to the Arcola to be tickled silly and enlightened on alternative histories before it’s too late!


THE BRIEF LIFE & MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF BORIS III, KING OF BULGARIA at the Arcola Theatre

Reviewed on 27th September 2023

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Will Alder


 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The Wetsuitman | ★★★ | August 2023
Union | ★★★ | July 2023
Duck | ★★★★ | June 2023
Possession | ★★★★★ | June 2023
Under The Black Rock | ★★★ | March 2023
The Mistake | ★★★★ | January 2023
The Poltergeist | ★★½ | October 2022
The Apology | ★★★★ | September 2022
L’Incoronazione Di Poppea | ★★★★ | July 2022
Rainer | ★★★★★ | October 2021

The Brief Life

The Brief Life

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All by myself

All by Myself

★★½

Online

All by myself

All by Myself

Online via AppleCart Arts

Reviewed – 23rd October 2020

★★½

 

“a more nuanced discussion and less dramatics would go far in improving this play”

 

All By Myself, directed by Jessica Bickel-Barlow and produced by Olivia Munk, is a one-woman show that tells the story of an unnamed woman (Charlie Blandford), alone in her apartment, but connected to the outside world through her YouTube account. The play explores the comparison between the image that appears on social media and real life, the former often carefully curated to achieve the desired results.

The performance begins with a pre-recorded video of the YouTube starlet trying to film the opening clips of her next upload. The woman obsesses over her hair, the positioning of her shoulders, and the tone of her voice as she attempts to simply greet her audience. When the woman ‘messes up’ or shows how she truly feels, the video pauses and we see the undesirable clips being deleted in editing. Her YouTube video is the only time that we hear our star speak, the rest of the play in near silence apart from a few exclamations and cries.

After this, the audience gets to meet the ‘real’ woman behind the vlogging camera. Immaculately dressed and wearing heavy make-up in her videos; in her apartment, the woman lounges in pyjamas with her hair tied back in a rough ponytail. She casually eats Coco Pops dry from the box and empty drinks bottles are strewn around her. She appears comfortable without the world watching her.

This soon changes as we see the woman obsessing over taking photos for social media. Peeling a potato for a homemade facemask, the woman meticulously scatters and repositions the potato peel for the desired photo opportunity. Later, our protagonist has a panic attack when she cannot get a good picture of her desk strewn with fairy lights.

The performance does raise some interesting points, mainly, about how we only sees a small snippet of a content creator’s life, but a few scenes border on the ridiculous. At the end of the play, the woman’s phone charger stops working, sending her into a frenzy. She quickly pulls out six potatoes and tries to devise a battery with nails and wire. It is doubtful even the most addicted phone users have tried this trick. This level of dramatics muddies the very real issues that the play is trying to address.

There are also clear opportunities to highlight real versus online that are not utilised. Throughout the show, the woman takes Instagram photos around her apartment. It would have been great if the ‘final product’ flashed up on screen so we could see both the curated result and the chaos behind it.

The script is also a little on the nose at times. For example, while filming, the woman thanks her audience before mumbling, “if you’re still watching or care or should care.” The woman’s desire for human connection could have easily been expressed through an overenthusiasm for comments or calling her audience her ‘family’ or ‘friends’ as many YouTubers do. This desperation, like the potato battery, feels overblown.

The set was nicely put together. The back of a kitchen unit and fridge faces the audience, a desk and chair are to the left and an armchair to the right. The lights are simple, only changing significantly when the woman naps after her panic attack and darkness sets in. Blamford is strong in her role as the woman, even though she has no lines to work with.

The themes of All By Myself are incredibly topical, especially as society becomes more aware of the adverse effects of social media. However, a more nuanced discussion and less dramatics would go far in improving this play.

 

 

Reviewed by Flora Doble

Photography by Will Alder

 


All by Myself

Online via AppleCart Arts as part of the Dazed New World Festival 2020

 

Previously reviewed by Flora:
Tribes | ★★★★ | Putney Arts Theatre | January 2020
Important Art | ★★★ | The Vaults | February 2020
Jekyll & Hyde | ★★★½ | The Vaults | February 2020
Minority Report | ★★★½ | The Vaults | February 2020
The Six Wives Of Henry VIII | ★★★ | King’s Head Theatre | February 2020
Julius Caesar | ★★★★ | The Space | March 2020
The Haus Of Kunst | ★★★ | The Vaults | March 2020
Pippin | ★★★★ | The Garden Theatre | September 2020
Big Girl | ★★★ | Bread & Roses Theatre | September 2020
How to Live a Jellicle Life | ★★★★ | Lion & Unicorn Theatre | October 2020

 

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