King’s Head Theatre 7 – 25 June. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
After a sold out run at Finborough Theatre, Arthur Miller’s rarely seen play transfers to the King’s Head. Inspired by true stories of men being rounded up for inspections, a Gentile who gave a Jew his own papers to escape the Nazis and a defiant Austrian noble, Phil Willmott’s production of Miller’s play takes place in a kind of limbo. The stark white set and increasingly unsettling sound effects create a strong feeling of the men being in limbo, helplessly awaiting judgement for an unknown crime.
The men all appear to fit the Nazi’s ubermensch criteria, with a gypsy, a communist, and a gay actor brought in with the Jews. As they sit waiting to be called for inspection, the men, initially cagey, with coded questions about being “Peruvian”, begin to theorise about what the Germans want of them. The men go through denial, insisting that if their papers are good, everything will be fine, but soon start to discuss rumours about work camps, slave labour, and trains taking Jews to die in furnaces. Henry Wyrley-Birch as Leduc, ex-army and psychiatrist, is the mechanism for examining society’s denial of and complicity in such atrocities. Monceau’s (PK Taylor) insistence that European society is too civilised to allow such things, Von Berg’s (Edward Killingback) argument that nobody who appreciates art could commit barbaric acts, and Bayard’s (Brendan O’Rourke) communist view blaming the rise of the Nazis on the rich and upper classes are all shot down in flames eloquently and rationally. Miller doesn’t give Leduc the answers, he just leaves the unpalatable truth hanging in the air, and we get to see some of this worst of human nature onstage too, as the men treat the gypsy with contempt because of his race. In times of hardship, people always need someone to blame. Although Incident at Vichy was written over 50 years ago, Miller’s play resonates today, with Trump’s talk of a Muslim register and nationalism, paranoia and anger simmering around the world. Miller ends the play with an act of redemption and sacrifice that is wholly satisfying and is played with perfect restraint by Killingback and Wyrley-Birch.
The entire cast give utterly convincing performances, with the nervous tension palpable, and the audience beginning to wince with the cast each time the door clangs shut. There are some wonderfully heart-rending moments, mostly involving Daniel Dowling as the 14-year-old boy, and his mother’s ring, but Jeremy Gagan will break your heart as the mute old Jew as the boy is taken away, and on his own exit. A beautiful performance.
Incident At Vichy is a fine production with a wonderful ensemble cast with a theme that resonates today. Well worth a look.