“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.
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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.
RGM productions has announced the full cast for the West End première of The Hunting of the Snark, a brand-new family musical inspired by the creator of Alice in Wonderland’s beloved classic poem. From the lead producer of the international smash hit musical, Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical, The Hunting of the Snark made its world première in Cardiff at the Sherman Theatre last year followed by a run at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Gemma Colclough directs Will Bryant (The Baker & The Bandernatch), Ben Galpin (The Bellman), Jordan Leigh-Harris (Boy), Simon Turner (The Banker) and Polly Smith (The Butcher). This family musical adventure opens at the Vaudeville Theatre on 28 July, with previews from the 26 July and runs until 2 September. Following the West End run the show will continue a national tour around the country from 25 September to 19 November.
All aboard! The ship is departing! All children, animals and silly people welcome!
The impossible voyage of an improbable crew to hunt an imaginary creature is brought magically to life in this sparkling musical comedy adventure for 4 to 94 year olds.
Enter the imaginative world of Alice in Wonderland creator, Lewis Carroll, in this brand new, highly original, ultra-modern adaptation inspired by his beloved classic poem.
This show features five high-energy actors, a life-like puppet, fantastical characters, and lashings of daft humour.
A riotous ragtag gang of bold adventurers including The Boy, The Banker, The Butcher, The Baker, The Bellman and The Knitting Beaver set off on a quest to catch the mythical Snark… on the journey they encounter the Jub Jub Bird, the sly Bandersnatch and the dastardly Boojum… Can a Snark be caught with soap? Will the Beaver escape the hungry Butcher’s clutches? Will the Baker remember his name? Does anyone know what a Snark actually looks like?
Side-splittingly funny, joyful, fast-paced and bursting with a soundtrack of witty songs by an award-winning songwriter, The Hunting of the Snark will delight, excite and entertain.
Annabel Wigoder is a graduate of the Royal Court Young Writers programme and Studio Group. She has a diploma in Script Development from the NFTS affiliated Script Factory and an MA in Creative Writing. Her short plays have been staged at Theatre 503, Southwark Playhouse, Riverside Studios, Soho Theatre and The Old Red Lion.
Gareth Cooper is a writer and performer, specialising in musical comedy (with some stand-up, sketch and poetry thrown in for good measure). From 2008-13, he wrote and performed with award winning, critically acclaimed sketch group, Delete the Banjax, and now splits his time between acting, writing and stand-up. His recent acting work includes Three Keepers, Dracula and the award-winning short film, The Three of Us, for which he also wrote the title track. In addition, in 2016 Gareth came second in the International Songwriting Competiton (Comedy category).
Will Bryant will play The Baker & the Bandernatch. His theatre credits include, Incident at Vichy (Finborough Theatre, Kings Head Theatre), The Lost Boy: Peter Pan (Catford Broadway Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (International tour), Dracula (UK tour), Rope (Brockley Jack Theatre); The Shakespeare Conspiracy (Chelsea Theatre), Hound (Riverside Studios Hammersmith) and Othello (The White Bear Theatre). Film credits include Tenants (Sophistic), The Last Day, Nightshade, On Seeing, Kindness and All Seasons Burn in Hell.
Ben Galpin plays The Bellman. For theatre his credits include Potted Sherlock (Vaudeville Theatre), The Tempest (Thick As Thieves), Twelfth Night (Open Bar Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Open Book Theatre), Bite-Size Plays (St James Theatre) and Romy & Julian (Vienna’s English Theatre).
Jordan Leigh-Harris plays Boy. She previously performed in The Hunting of the Snark at the Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Polly Smith plays The Butcher. Theatre credits include Table Manners (UK tour), Sleighed to Death (UK tour), Portrait of Murder (Devonshire Park, Eastbourne), Secondary Cause of Death (UK tour), Helga Philby (UK tour), A Bedfull of Foreigners (UK tour), Daisy Pulls it Off, Love’s A Luxury and A Touch of Danger (UK tour), Titus Andronicus and Henry VI part 1 (The Rose Playhouse, Bankside).
Simon Turner plays The Banker. His previous credits include Blood Brothers (Phoenix Theatre), The Railway Children (UK Tour), Aladdin (Carriageworks Theatre, Lovegrove Theatre), A Body To Die(t) For (Landor Theatre), Henry VI Part 1 (The Rose Theatre, Bankside), That’s Love (The Mill at Sonning), Jazz in Club Class (Waterside Arts Theatre), The Gamblers, Blue Remembered Hills (Crescent Theatre, Birmingham) and Frank and Dean in Legends (UK Tour).
Gemma Colclough directs. She has been Artistic Director of Idle Hands Productions since 2007, and Associate Director of the Rose Theatre since 2008. Her credits include The Last Great Lady (Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham), The Beat My Time Machine Skipped (Soho Theatre, Blast Off!), If A Ten Ton Truck (Theatre 503), NewsRevue (Canal Café Theatre, Run 1 and 5, 2012), The View From Here (Theatre 503, RWR), My Love (Lion & Unicorn Theatre for Giant Olive) and Titus Andronicus (The Rose Theatre, Bankside).
