Berlin, MTC, 22 April 2021 ****

THEATRE

Written by Joanna Murray-Smith, Melbourne Theatre Company

MTC Southbank Theatre until 22 May 2021

Reviewer: Kate Herbert

Stars:****

This review published only in this blog. KH

Grace Cummings & Michael Wahr, pic Jeff Busby

 

Berlin by Joanna Murray-Smith is a two-hander that shifts from seduction to philosophical discussion before taking a turn into complex, social and political issues.

 The play, directed by Iain Sinclair, takes place in Charlotte’s (Grace Cummings) hipster apartment (design, Christine Smith) in an expensive part of Berlin. Having met Tom (Michael Wahr), an Australian tourist, in the bar where she works, she invites him to her home after he tells her he has no accommodation.

 

Their playful, confident and sensual seduction is a like a game of cat and mouse – or cat and cat – as they tease and entice each other with wine, poetry and half-truths.

 

The ground becomes unstable when their lovers’ evening tilts into unpredictable, perhaps dangerous territory, and deteriorates into an impassioned argument that is unwinnable by either party because it is steeped in history, culture and war. It's an intellectual, psychological and emotional wrestling match, with sexual overtones.

 

The performances are compelling. Cummings takes Charlotte on a journey, shifting from self-possession into an emotional and insecure young woman, while Michael Wahr captures the volatility and confusion of this desperate young traveller, Tom.

 

It is impossible to discuss the issues arising in this play without spoiling the revelations that swivel the story inexorably to its dramatic destination.

 

Suffice to say that the argument has been going on in many cultures for many decades and the issues of culture, heritage and history haunt the lives of both of these characters and many in our community.

 

 

by Kate Herbert

 

NB: I want to draw readers’ attention to the ‘stolpersteine’, stumbling stones, of which there are over 8,000 in Berlin. Look them up.

 

Grace Cummings & Michael Wahr, pic Jeff Busby

Cast:

Grace Cummings

Michael Wahr

Iain Sinclair - Director

Niklas Pajanti -Lighting

Christine Smith -Set Costume

Kelly Ryall - Composer/Sound Designer

Anna McCrossin-Owen - Voice & Dialect Coach

Michala Banas - Intimacy Coach 

Alistair Clarke - Assistant Director