THEATRE / '1953' - White Bear, Kennington SE11
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Note the quotation marks in the title: this is not 1953 as we remember it, but '1953' - same year, different universe. Craig Raine's version of Andromaque transfers the action to a mythical recent past, when Britain has fallen to the Axis. For London read Troy, for Hitler, Agamemnon, and for Mussolini, Achilles. Now, Count Klaus Maria von Orestes arrives in Rome to demand the life of Angus LeSkye, last claimant to the British throne. But Vittorio, Mussolini's son and King of Italy, loves the boy's mother, Annette. He can't marry her, though, because he is betrothed to the German Princess Ira (formerly Orestes' lover). Despite his indifference, Ira is hot for Vittorio; Orestes, meanwhile, still hankers after her.
The parallels with Racine are clear: but what Raine has created is not a modern counterpart to classical tragedy, but a steamy saga of machismo, violence and sexual obsession that has more to do with Len Deighton's SS-GB (which posited roughly the same historical situation). And Raine's verse, characteristically full of mildly surprising simile and uneasy dips into colloquialism, sits awkwardly on the tongue.
All the same, for its British stage premiere '1953' deserves something more polished and emotionally high-powered than Crux Theatre's production. The obvious restrictions of budget and space wouldn't matter if the cast showed more understanding of the play - if they projected a sense of inner passions spilling over. With a limited expressive vocabulary, they end up shouting a lot.
To 9 Aug (071-735 8664)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments