Stage: Always take sides

The White Factory
by Dmitry Glukhovsky
director Maxim Didenko
with Mark Quartley, Pearl Chanda, Adrian Schiller, James Garnon, Matthew Spencer, Olivia Bernstone, Lewis Hart, Rachel Barry, Cameron McColm, Lucas Allermann, Paul-Hector Antoine, Leo Franky, Aron Yacobi
sets & costumes Galya Solodovnikova • music Louis Lebee
lighting Alex Musgrave • sound Julian Starr
Marylebone Theatre • 14.Sep-4.Nov.23

Jewish-Polish playwright Dmitry Glukhovsky finds chilling present-day resonance in this account of the Łódź ghetto during World War II, during which Jewish community leaders negotiated with Nazis for the least horrific outcome, ignoring larger issues beyond their borders. Staged in a bracingly visual way by director Maxim Didenko and designer Galya Solodovnikova, this is a frightening exploration of the insidious creep of totalitarianism and fascism.

In 1939 Łódź, Jewish atheists Yosef and Rivka Kaufman (Quartley and Chanda) live with their two young sons and Rivka's disabled father (Schiller), and none of them take the rising tide of Polish racism seriously. Even when Nazis turn up and force Jews into a ghetto, they expect the best. Orphanage director Chaim Rumkowski (also Schiller) is appointed leader, setting out to make the Jews indispensable through manufacturing, turning the Catholic church into a "white factory" making pillows. But Nazi boss Koppe (Garnon) is creating a death machine, demanding that Rumkowski hand over Jews for deportation. In 1942, he is ordered to send 20,000 children and elderly, and he begs the ghetto to cooperate to save as many lives as possible.

These events are bookended by scenes in 1960 as Koppe is arrested and put on trial in Brooklyn over 340,000 people who died under his orders. But he points the blame at Yosef, who says he was following orders as a ghetto police officer. Of course, Wilhelm also plays the victim, claiming to have merely followed orders himself. The fine performances bring out nuances in each character with often shocking resonance. Quartley's role is particularly demanding, with full physicality and intense emotions that are lightened by his chemistry with Chanda, who plays both Rivka and his unknowing new American wife.

All of this may be very familiar, often dramatised on stage and screen. But it's given a new slant with clever touches that fill the abstract stage, which is cube-shaped like a TV screen. Onto this, live video is projected documenting scenes period style with striking closeups, plus some lively storytelling sequences with eye-catching special effects (although an audio delay makes this awkward to watch). The earthy, naturalistic acting adds a beautiful counterpoint, as does the way this cube splinters and shifts, dirtied with blood and ash.

Yes, this is a grim, violent story that's powerfully moving and often gruelling to watch. The writing is talky, and the muffled sound makes it difficult to follow so many characters with inaudible names. But the issues are razor-sharp, taking on inaction, collaboration, compromise, resistance and even suicide. The Nazis maintain a false sense of hope within the ghetto, encouraging belief in a positive future while also dealing in fear, threats and manipulation. All of this is horrifically familiar in the world today. And the question of whether it's possible to achieve either justice or peace echoes loudly.

“Wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation, we must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” —Elie Wiesel

For information, MARYLEBONE THEATRE >

photos by Mark Senior • 20.Sep.23

Critical Week: Aye aye

Now that the key film festivals have taken place, the movie landscape shifts into awards-season mode. I've actually been working on the London Critics' Circle Film Awards since June, but everything kicked up a gear this week, as I've sent our voting roster to studios and for-your-consideration screenings are starting to appear in the calendar. Meanwhile, London Film Festival is revving its gears, and several of these films are already screening two weeks before the festival even starts. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
It Lives Inside
Accused • R.M.N.
PERHAPS AVOID:
Expend4bles
ALL REVIEWS >

As for films I've seen this week, there's the reunion of the fabulous Glenda Jackson and Michael Caine in The Great Escaper, based on a true British story. It's sentimental but also beautifully played by its expert cast. And then there was Expend4bles, nearly a decade after the third movie. But the less starry cast can't explain why the script is so undercooked or the direction so sloppy.

More fun was the breezy crime comedy The Kill Room, starring Uma Thurman, Samuel L Jackson and Joe Manganiello as the art world meets the mob. Accused is a ripping British thriller starring Chaniel Kular as a guy the internet decides is a terrorist, which is something from all of our nightmares. Rhys Darby stars in the goofy time-travel comedy Relax I'm From the Future, which is charming and enjoyably messy. From Northern Ireland, Ballywalter is a comedy with a dry, emotional heart as two unmoored people find a connection. And I also saw the harrowing World War II Poland-set stage play The White Factory at Marylebone Theatre (review up soon).

Films this coming week include the sci-fi epic The Creator, the animated adventure Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, the comedies The Plus One and The Re-Education of Molly Singer, British runway-kids drama I Am Urban and the Hong Kong police drama Where the Wind Blows, plus live events with the Kyiv City Ballet's Tribute to Peace and a street performance called Code of Justice.

Stage: I'll drink to that

Deeper and Deeper
written and directed by Tim McArthur
with Scott Afton, Stewart Briggs, Dickon Farmar, Robert Hook, Hari Kanabar
produced by Above the Stag
lighting Vittorio Verta
costumes Michelle Taylor Knight
Union Theatre, Southwark • 13-17.Sep.23

Kanabar and Hook

There are some provocative ideas gurgling within this drama, which explores the lives of five men whose lives are intertwined over nearly two decades. Much of the interaction features barbed humour, but it's not quite appropriate to call this a comedy, as the jokes reveal limited perspectives and awkward attitudes. The dialog may elicit laughter here and there, but much of this is because it's so easy to see how these guys are struggling to connect on a deeper level.

It opens with a first meeting in a Camden flat in 1997, as Andrew (Farmar) is looking to rent a room with a group of younger guys. He's welcomed by Simon (Afton), an eager and very naive kid only recently arrived in London from Cornwall. Then the sexy Joe (Hook) turns up, flirting shamelessly and then some. The fourth tenant is the cheerful owner Paul (Briggs). And over the years, these four get very drunk together and expose their thoughts and feelings about a range of issues relating to gay life in Britain. A new boyfriend arrives with French twink Louis (Kanabar), relationships come and go, and revelations continually shake their trust in each other.

Afton and Farmar

On a nicely simplified set with black furniture, white props and a scene-setting video wall, the play's first half progresses in sequence, jumping ahead through five years. Then after the interval the narrative fractures, flashing back to reveal connections made earlier than expected, secret ongoing relationships, a surprising sudden death and various years-later encounters. Through all of this, there's a lot of banter about  the usual gay topics like sex, dating and clubbing. And there's continual spicy interaction, although it's more barbed than playful. Indeed, their insults have a brittle, queeny sting to them, usually fuelled by alcohol.

Performances are strong on the whole. Aside from one miscast role, the actors find clever ways to mix sexual posturing with bristly sarcasm while continually revealing underlying emotions. Hook and Kanabar have the most engaging presence on-stage, creating a strikingly realistic bond together. Their roles are more naturalistic than the others, so they're easier to identify with. Hook is remarkably good at holding audience sympathy even as Joe is vilified for his promiscuity and deception. All of them nicely convey the way these men change over the decades.

Briggs with Hook & Kanabar

Alongside pop cultural references and Madonna music from 1995 to 2013, the play is packed with witty observations, sassy opinions, screaming rows and darkly emotional introspection. And while it feels rather fragmented, it adds up to an involving depiction of a relationship over time within the gay subculture, including the way it ripples out to encompass other people. As these five men fall in and out of love and then find lingering embers of affection, a profound honesty emerges that's ultimately moving.

For details, ABOVE THE STAG >

photos by PGBStudios • 13.Sep.23

Stage: Be more Myra

Myra DuBois: Be Well
with Gareth Joyner, Lucy Frederick
Peacock Theatre • 13-16.Sep.23

Now on a national tour, the fabulous drag queen Myra DuBois makes a triumphant return to the West End with her new show, which takes on mindfulness and mental health in meaningful ways while also remaining resolutely ridiculous. Performers Gareth Joyner and Lucy Frederick are deeply dedicated to these characters, and rightly have a fiercely loyal fan base.

Frank Lavender is back as Myra's brother-in-law and opening act. An old school comic with dated material that's flatly offensive, Frank skates very closely to the edge but survives as a character who cleverly blurs the lines. So the humour comes from the delivery rather than the groan-worthy punchlines. And the audience involvement is hilarious because of how Frank plays it, making fun of himself at every step. All while his wife Rose, Myra's estranged twin sister, continually steals the show with her good-natured energy and the way she punctures Frank's ego at every turn.

After the interval, Myra takes the stage announcing her retirement from show business. Instead, she is going to lead the audience in a healing session. She has brought two leopard-print chairs and her tiger-print bar from home, and has a one-step process to share with us. She also sets out to find people with particular need in the audience, sensing their conditions and bringing them to the stage where she blithely continues her raucously funny chatter while insulting their clothing and mercilessly picking on hecklers.

Myra's syruppy tone amusingly conceals her bitterly nasty comments and expert double entendre, and she reels off one-liners so quickly that we can't catch them all. Her improvised comebacks are razor sharp, so fast that they elicit huge laughter. And while she's as self-deprecating as ever, she also knows that she has something special, so indulges in rather a lot of hilarious diva behaviour, happily pouring cocktails for herself while ignoring the guests seated on-stage.

All of this flows into a larger narrative, which she calls "abstract", looking at how Rose has betrayed Myra by publishing a tell-all autobiography. (Rose turns up to read excerpts.) And Myra has also been failed by her mother and her guru. Indeed, even as she is offering healing to others, she needs care herself. And maybe the answer is inside her. It's a delightfully simple gimmick that is so thoroughly winning that we'd happy follow Myra anywhere.

For information, SADLER'S WELLS >    

13.Sep.23

Critical Week: Camera ready

It's been a ridiculously busy week, with too many film releases and too many screenings as well, perhaps because Venice Film Festival ended last weekend. Eclectic screenings this week have included the terrific Gael Garcia Bernal in the biopic Cassandro, a colourfully well-made biopic about the exotico wrestler. Ken Loach's latest, and perhaps final, film The Old Oak is a triumph, a staggeringly clear-eyed depiction of ugly British attitudes with an emotive glimmer of hope. And Pablo Larrain's El Conde is a viciously inventive satire that depicts Augusto Pinochet as a 250-year-old vampire with a jaw-dropping mentor.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Golden Delicious • Love Life
Cassandro • Fremont
A Haunting in Venice
ALL REVIEWS >

Kenneth Branagh is back this week with another all-star Agatha Christie adaptation, and A Haunting in Venice is the best one yet, a superbly gothic mystery thriller packed with shifty characters. Michael Jai White directs and stars in Outlaw Johnny Black, an enjoyable 1970s style action-comedy Western. Aaron Pierre lights up the screen in the small Canadian drama Brother, a dark drama celebrating tenacious immigrant mothers. And Pablo Berger's animated Robot Dreams is a pure delight, tracing the complex friendship between a lonely dog and his robot friend.

And there were even more: Bolan's Shoes is a melodramatic British drama that's beautifully acted but deliberately enigmatic. The Latent Image is an inventively freaky meta-thriller about storytelling; 20,000 Species of Bees is a moving Spanish drama about an 8-year-old wondering why he feels so uneasy about his gender; Gurkha Warrior is a skilfully made rah-rah celebration of the military prowess of the Gurkhas; and Samsara is an offbeat experimental drama that takes the audience on an inventive trip between lives. There were two docs: Carlos is a chatty visit with legendary musician Carlos Santana, while Summer Qamp profiles an extraordinary retreat centre for queer kids in rural Canada. There were also live shows Deeper and Deeper and Myra Dubois: Be Well.

Films this coming week include the all-star action sequel Expend4bles, Almodovar's Western A Strange Way of Life, Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson in The Great Escaper, Accused, Relax I'm From the Future, Ballywater, Rebel and the live show The White Factory.

Critical Week: Where the buffalo roam

As a heatwave sets in around Britain, creating our hottest week of the year so far (in September!), audiences are likely to avoid cinemas in lieu of parks and beaches. So box office data is likely to disappoint come Monday. But there's plenty to see, including one of my very best films of the year, Past Lives. Meanwhile, I finally caught up with Riley Keough and Gina Gammell's award-winning debut War Pony, a strikingly authentic and pointed Native American drama. Nia Vardalos and family are back for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, another charming mess of a movie that wins us over despite ourselves. And Richard E Grant, Julie Delpy and Daryl McCormack have a lot of fun with the arch melodrama of The Lesson, an overwrought thriller that doesn't quite hold water but keeps us entertained.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Past Lives • La Ronde
Rotting in the Sun
REVIEWS >

A bit further afield, Carol Morley is back with a bracingly original look at mental illness in Typist Artist Pirate King, which traces an adventurous road trip with under-appreciated British artist Audrey Amiss, powerfully played by Monica Dolan. Rotting in the Sun is a smart and provocatively original mashup of mystery, drama and crime comedy from Sebastian Silva. The British doc A Life on the Farm highlights a true eccentric who made hilariously nutty home movies. And the Australian series (released as a compilation) Single, Out is charmingly awkward as it follows a young guy navigating gay life. I also attended Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre at 65 at Sadler's Wells.

This coming week I'll be watching Pablo Larrain's bonkers Pinochet vampire thriller El Conde, Kenneth Branagh's whodunit A Haunting in Venice, British battle epic Gurkha Warrior, Canadian immigration drama Brother, animated adventure Robot Dreams, Spanish drama 20,000 Species of Bees, Laotian monks drama Samsara, Santana doc Carlos, Anselm Kiefer doc Anselm and live shows Deeper and Deeper and Myra Dubois: Be Well.

Dance: Wade in the water, children

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
at 65
artistic director Robert Battle
Sadler's Wells, London • 5-16.Sep.23

Celebrating the establishment of the Alvin Ailey company in 1958, this mixed bill season features four programmes that feature both old and new numbers. I attended the first night, titled Contemporary Voices, featuring three recent pieces followed by a thunderous work choreographed by Ailey himself.

First up is Are You in Your Feelings? (2022, choreography by Kyle Abraham), in which dancers appear in couples wearing colourful, loose flowing costumes, grooving to a range of pulsing numbers from Drake's riff on The Beatles' Michelle to The Flamingos' I Only Have Eyes for You to Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Kendrick Lamar and more Drake. Little scenarios emerge revealing some gender-based attitudes, lit provocatively from above and the side. The moods are vivid, and the dancers take a casual approach that's engaging, fluid and precise but never quite sharp.

The mood lightens considerably with For Four (2021, choreography by Robert Battle), a bouncy piece accompanied by soft jazz from Wynton Marsalis. The dancing is reactive to the music rather than interactive, which makes it feels a bit simplistic. But it's also charming, bright and energetic, packed with witty touches. A moment featuring an American flag and a shirtless Black dancer is perhaps deliberately jarring. But the jaunty vibe swiftly returns.

Shifting to opera, Unfold (2007, choreography by Battle) plays to an aria from Louise sung by Leontyne Price. This is an edgier work, centring around a diva who strikes dramatically bold poses while a man circles around her. Their interaction is tough and intriguing, creating gorgeous lines and shapes using a tremendous amount of strength. Most intriguingly, this is not about creating the most beautiful poses, so the lighting, music, costumes and committed performances have a strong impact.

Finally, the main event is Revelations (1960, choreography by Ailey), which uses traditional spirituals as musical accompaniment while the simply glorious dancing creates huge emotional impact. This is a powerfully moving multi-part performance, and perhaps it's clear that the dancers themselves know this, as they pour their skill and passion into each expressive move. The result is visceral and shattering in way that's both challenging and uplifting. Scenes shift through a series of movements, including a summery sequence with a white parasol and a group number featuring church ladies with quivering fans. Shimmering and evocative, and bursting with soulfulness, the scenes escalate as the group takes on a punchy Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham. And the curtain call is gorgeous as well.

Note that the images are from the full programme, not necessarily the pieces reviewed. For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Dario Calmese & Paul Kolnik • 5.Sep.23