Jack Studio Theatre – until 3 February. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
3***
Aequitas’s adaptation of Brecht’s anti-Nazi play begins with the cast welcoming the audience into the shelter and cheerfully checking if anyone has bought food for us all to survive on.
A siren sounds, and the action begins. Director Rachael Bellis presents a selection of the playlets from Brecht’s original that echo ominously within the present political climate. The playlets are bookended by radio broadcasts about Trump and Brexit, and modern dress and props are used. The Daily Mail becomes the Nazi state newspaper, while educated liberals read The Guardian; SA troopers wear MAGA baseball caps, and Mein Kampf is on top of a pile hiding Hillary Clinton’s book. This unsubtle signposting of modern parallels is a little forced, as the fear and paranoia the characters demonstrate is universal in any fascist regime.
The cast do well with the playlets chosen, Clark Alexander dominates one scene as the bullying SA man demonstrating the sly and terrifyingly simple method he uses to inform on dissenters. The paranoia of parents who live in fear of their son revealing their unguarded comments is portrayed convincingly by Hugo Trebels and Faye Maughan. William Ross-Fawcett and LaTanya Peterkin make the most of their smaller but pivotal roles in various playlets. The standout performance of the night comes from Rhiannon Sommers as a Jewish wife who speaks eloquently and emotionally about why she is leaving her husband as she packs, alone, in the most engaging section of the production.
This is a well-intentioned production, with committed performances from the energetic cast, but the political and moral warnings ultimately fall flat in this hodgepodge of scenes. Perhaps some of the rejected playlets would have added a little more colour to this adaptation – making it inspiring rather than merely interesting.