Jack Studio Theatre – until 16 February
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
5*****
When you leave a theatre and you and your companion, who can usually talk the hind legs off a donkey, can only whisper “wow” dreamily, then you know you’ve seen something special. Arrows & Traps’ Taro is visually and emotionally stunning.
Playing alongside the wonderful Gentleman Jack as part of the Female Firsts season, Taro tells the story of another remarkable and inspiring woman. Gerta Pohorylle was a German Jew who moved to Paris as Hitler rose to power, where she met Endre Freidmann, who introduced her to photography. The influx of refugees in France meant that Freidmann couldn’t get the jobs or credit he deserved, even with the canny Gerta acting as his agent. The pair invented the persona of Robert Capa, an American, and Gerta was soon able to demand much more from the publications and agencies. Gerda changed her name to Gerda Taro, and together they covered the Spanish Civil War until her death in 1937. With most of her work being attributed to Capa, Gerda’s name isn’t well known, but this magnificent play will surely encourage many to find out more about this incredible woman.
This has obviously been a labour of love for writer/director Ross McGregor and the Arrows, and every moment radiates class. Odin Corie, Ben Jacobs (lighting) Alistair Lax (sound), and Samuel Sim (music) have created a magical world hovering between movies and photography that perfectly matches the conceit of Greta Garbo (Beatrice Vincent) instructing Gerda (Lucy Ioannou) on how to portray her life as a movie. Ioannou glides around the stage, watching as Gerta (Cornelia Baumann) plays out her life in Paris and Spain, but constantly returns to scenes from her Jewish upbringing and confrontations with her father, which resolve themselves into warm memories as the play progresses. Baumann and Ioannou are mesmeric, with Baumann powerfully fierce and passionate as Gerta realises her ambitions, and Ioannou is ethereal and mystical as she voices McGregor’s more poetic lines, until her final emotion shredding scene with Endre (Tom Hartill) where everything is laid bare between them and the depth of his love for her is revealed. Vincent wafts around imperiously as Garbo, acting as puppeteer and purring fantastic one-liners.
The tableaux and movement the cast perform add another level to this production, with movement director Matthew Parker and mime choreographer Will Pinchin creating beautiful moments, both whimsical and devastating. Just sublime.