Cold War
Almeida Theatre, London

CONOR MACPHERSON’s Cold War, based on Pawel Pawlikowski’s film, the winner of a best director prize at Cannes, is a musical adaptation of this bittersweet on-off love story which showcases Polish folk music and several new Elvis Costello songs. 

Pawlikowski partly based it on the experiences of his parents. 

Luke Thallon plays Wiktor, a musical director and struggling composer who is scouring Stalinist Poland for folk songs. He meets the passionate and talented singer Zula (Anya Chalotra) and sparks fly. He is smitten and they both fall deliriously in love. 

But it is an amour fou infused with Slavic gloom. 

Zula’s folk music ensemble are being pressurised by state officials and apparatchiks to tailor their performances and output to suit the aims of Stalinist communism; in other words to perform songs praising heroic peasant workers and joyful combine harvesters. 

Wiktor and Zula are horrified at the prospect of churning out propaganda but Kaczmarek their tour manager agrees, sensing that a lucrative career and a measure of fame beckon on the horizon. Being something of an oily thug he manages to “convince” Zula to come with him. 

Kaczmarek is played by Elliot Levey with exactly the right amount of charm and repulsiveness. As he says: “Like many in my profession I’m a bit of a bastard but I am a transparent bastard.” 

Wiktor eventually flees to Berlin and the rest of the play follows their on-off relationship of thwarted passion. Both lovers become addicted to drink as a consequence and it becomes apparent that the trajectory of this affair is aiming in one direction — down.

This is not exactly the ideal show for Christmas, more one for the “Bah, humbug!” Brigade; or those who want a heavy dose of realism, Slavic-style. The intense concentration on the star-crossed lovers crowds out some of the fascinating history that’s unfolding in the background and once booze crops up you know where things are leading. 

Still, what redeems Cold War for me is the Polish folk music ensemble Warsaw Village Band which combines traditional music with modern styles including rock’n’roll. Ellen Kane’s inventive choreography fills the stage with swirling, gyrating dancers in traditional costumes punctuating the drama at the drop of a hat. 

Elvis Costello’s plaintiff songs comment on and heighten the drama but a tune in the vein of “Oliver’s Army” would have energised things more. 

Directed by the inimitable Rupert Goold.

Runs until January 27 2024. Box Office: 020 7359 4404, almeida.co.uk