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Theatre Review A bleak parable on capitalism’s entrapments

SIMON PARSONS reviews a play by a German expressionist playwright who inspired Brecht

The Coral
Finborough Theatre

GEORG KAISER’S 1917 expressionist play gains a worthy and fascinating re-airing after a century of neglect.

As one of the great German expressionist playwrights, Kaiser’s work strongly influenced other artists and his post-WWI themes of dissociation from one’s actions, the corrupting influence of wealth and the struggle to remain virtuous in a capitalist world are evident in many of Brecht’s plays.

As the first part of a trilogy, The Coral is a bleak parable that follows the doomed efforts of a ruthless businessman to escape his grim, poverty-stricken childhood and protect his children from the cruel realities of the industrial world by buffering their lives with wealth.

Hiding behind his secretary, an indistinguishable double except for a piece of coral that embellishes his jacket, his conscience is appeased by a weekly charitable day of giving.

His attempt to find some sort of truth to his existence after rejecting political philosophies and religion and in turn being rejected by his own children is a murderous and fatal escape to another identity in order to regain some of lost innocence.

Collide Theatre has resurrected another intriguing play from the archives and given it a stylish treatment with a unique soundscape and a series of stylised performances on a minimalist set.

The Millionaire, played with passion and control by Stuart Laing, is the dominating central figure, but the rest of the cast of five effectively multirole the range of character types from the more naturalistic depiction of the elder daughter to the outlandish gallery owner publicising his new concept gallery devoid of art and the humorous, cliched period detectives attempting to unravel the mystery identity.

Director Emily Louizou has achieved striking moments of dramatic intensity and uses the intimate stage to good effect but in the end she is struggling with something very much of its time.

The unexpected twist in the second half makes for a satisfying denouement but the overlong establishment of the premise does not sit so easily with a modern audience.

Runs until October 29 2022, box office: (020) 7244-7439, finboroughtheatre.co.uk.

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