The English language premiere of this intriguing play by Jean-Philippe Daguerre adapted by Jeremy Sams and directed by Lindsay Posner will no doubt be remembered for some time to come.
Nigel Lindsay as Joseph Haffmann and Ciarán Owens as Pierre Vigneau | Photo © Simon Annand
Set against the Nazi regime in Paris 1942, the plot revolves around the Jewish jewellery shop owner Joseph Haffmann and his employee Pierre Vigneau.
They switch roles to hide Haffmann in the cellar but at huge expense to both Pierre and his wife; a painting in the cellar holds the key to their survival but they are all driven to the brink by the unusual arrangement.
Punctuated by a driving soundscape of terror, and erratic tap dancing reflecting the decline of Pierre’s mental health and dislocation from the world he knew; it is a challenging and thought-provoking play with dark humour and deep emotions running throughout.
The cast is excellent, the episodic narrative script takes a while to adjust but it soon develops into an intense and gripping story.
Nigel Lindsay is Joseph Haffmann defiant and proud but driven to get back to his family and those he loves. Ciaran Owens as Pierre Vigneau captures the decline of his emotional state in the light of his request with style alongside his wife Isabelle played by Lisa Dillon.
As the power status shifts in the home the arrival of Otto Abetz, the local all-seeing Nazi, Alexander Hanson commands with the sense of a prowling lion just picking his moment to strike.
Josefina Gabrielle as his crude, drunken, abused wife is gloriously funny and tragic in equal measure. The dysfunction of their marriage crashing into the closing dinner party.
It feels as if it is true, the author says it is rooted in the experience of people he knew.
The pressures of the Nazi regime remain terrifying and prevalent throughout; well worth a visit running at 95 minutes straight through it is an intense experience but the Ustinov is once again back on top form.
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Reviewer: Petra Schofield
