HEROES LIKE US To 24 November.

London.

HEROES LIKE US
by Thomas Brussig adapted by Kamila Polívková.

Riverside Studios (Studio 3). 24 November 2009.
Runs 1hr 25min No interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 24 November.

A mythical heroic past neatly illumined.
Again, FeEast is broadening London’s late autumn theatre with work from Central and Eastern Europe. But this year it’s just this one Riverside performance from Prague Chamber Theatre – more a SnaAck, really. Withdrawal of some hoped-for financing has meant other planned projects having to be cancelled.

FeEast plans big things next year. But not in Britain. This small-scale piece shows something of what we stand to lose. It’s supported by the Czech Centre, who maximise publicity with cameras, video and still, filming the audience. At least, that’s the reason provided, though given the subject of (East) Berliner Thomas Brussig’s 1995 novel, adapted by director-designer Kamila Polívková, it could be more sinister.

Following film of the Berlin Wall’s collapse, lecturer Klaus Uhltzscht, suited and serious, speaks on the momentous event. But first, he discusses his name. Not a lot of great Klauses about, and as for the surname - that lone vowel dogged by a consonantal row; it’s enough to make anyone introspective. From which he goes on to combine bawdy fantastication with a comic-edged examination of guilt and conscience.

This self-proclaimed hero of the fall of the Wall was, needless to say, a member of East Germany’s secret police. Who were so secret, he didn’t even realise he was working for them. The seductive nature of an all-powerful state is tick-box Orwellian. It offers security; how much safer to be brought up opposite the national security building than near the Brandenburg Gate, open to on the West. Nobody mentioned the secret police when father spoke of his work.

Before he knew it, Klaus was part of US, of OUR society. Control was everywhere, choice never an agonising presence. In the city bordering with death, the tight political grip is sinister yet ludicrous awry from its own stated values. Klaus became the clown he temporarily portrays himself as by donning white-face make-up. This won’t do for one of his former victims, who emerges from the crowd before walking out. It makes the point: there are layers of experience lying behind the words, that only those who have experienced might fully comprehend.

Klaus Uhltzscht: Jiri Strébl.
Sara: Tereza Hofova.

Director/Designer/Costume: Kamila Polívková.
Video: Stepán Vodrázka.
Dramaturg: Tereza Hofová.

2009-11-27 12:34:07