MISTER PAUL by Tankred Dorst. Old Red Lion to 3 November
London
MISTER PAUL
by Tankred Dorst with Ursula Ehler, translated Steve Gooch
Old Red Lion To 3 November 2001
Runs 2hr 5min One interval
TICKETS 020 7837 7816
Review Timothy Ramsden 14 October
Feathers fly and blood flows as laughter turns to screams in a play of the new Germany.Since our national and repertory companies can't, or won't, explore recent European drama, thanks to the Contemporary Stage Company, whose British premiere of the protean Dorst's 1994 drama fits snugly into this Islington pub theatre.
Dorst gives us minimal context; perhaps it was clear in Germany. Director David Graham-Young sees old Paul and his opera-loving sister Luise (Jill Johnson) as representatives of Communist East Germany, forced to unplug their minds from a conformist society, while earnest young Helm (Rhys Meredith) and his prospective business partner Schwarzbeck (Stephen Ley, hiding commercial keenness under a hearty exterior) represent the forces of the materially progressive West.
These two want to shift Paul and Luise from their flat and re-open the factory it partly occupies. But Paul is a cunning, devious fellow. Richard Kane gives the benign-seeming old man a shell no logic can pierce. Reason rages around but he falls asleep or sits with an expression where apparent shame battles it out with underlying amusement in the ramshackle comfort of David Burrows' living-room set.
At first, Falstaff-like, he's a cause of delight to Helm's girlfriend Lilo (Anita McCann) and the neighbour's daughter Anita (Sara Jane Derrick). But the child is mentally impaired, flinging pillow feathers or performing an autopsy on medical textbooks, and Lilo is driven to anger and hysteria when she's chased round town after Paul only to find he never left home.
Having signed to move out, Paul eats his words and spits them out at Helm, ruining the young man's business hopes. So the respectably suited businessman lunges at the comfortably dressing-gown clad Paul with an axe. But mere murder can't dispose of such a man. Finally, Paul sits sleepily, Helm stunned and Luise entranced by a recording of Aida. The old world has defeated the new, nothing is achieved.
Here's an intriguing play, in a detailed production with an excellent central performance.
Mister Paul: Richard Kane
Helm: Rhys Meredith
Luise, Paul's sister: Jill Johnson
Lilo: Anita McCann
Anita: Sara Jane Derrick
Schwarzbeck: Stephen Ley
Director: David Graham-Young
Designer/Lighting: David Burrows
Costume: Chrystine Bennett
2001-10-15 01:06:44