A Russian in the Woods (2008)

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Poster by Mark Davies

by Peter Whelan

Directed by Lisa Thomas

Performances: Tue 1st - Sat 5th July 2008, Bell Theatre



Introduction

The story of an innocent young sergeant posted to guard an empty house in post-war Berlin where there are ghosts in the garden. In one eventful weekend, he is introduced to homosexuality and the possibility that a gay American soldier may be a Russian double agent.

The play is also about the discovery of self by a soldier too young to have fought in World War II and too naive to understand the complexity of a partitioned Berlin. Nobody is what they seem, and in the end it seems to have all been a game: the Cold War was won by those on both sides who most wanted to win it and everyone else was a loser.


Cast

Crew

Reviews

Carole Coyne Loved all those men in uniforms.

Very well cast. The play offers a very human story with strong and varied characters and they all filled and embellished the parts beautifully. I won't give any secrets away except to say that we see a very gentle and charming side of Simon Roberts after his King Richard, Derek is powerfully angry; Matthew Davies is masterfull; Liv is very grown-up with no fangs; Neil has more than a banana in his pocket; James Hough is more relaxed than ever in a huge comfort blanket; Brendan gives a strong debut with no song-and-dance; and Adam weaves them all together with great skill and humanity.

And I loved the set.

Thanks to all

Davey Thanks to all for a very enjoyable evening. The set looked great, the play is full of surprises and suspense, and the cast were excellent. Cheers

Jack King Saw this tonight and absoutely loved it

worth the money just for Simon who was astounding

But brilliant from all involved, I wont name names cos they all deserve accolades.

Ruth Huggett Really good show guys, well put together, great set and some very strong performances.

Jenny McLaughlin Thank you very much to cast and crew for an engrossing evening. The acting was excellent: Adam beautifully expresses an inital innocence and naivety, ultimately revealing a stubborn integrity. Matt and Derek give masterclasses in repression and anger - Matt brooding and threatening, Derek constantly waspish and bitter. Never having seen Brendan on stage outside of the panto, I was blown away by his easy, naturalistic style and his AWESOME american accent. Simon charms the pants off his fellow cast-members and the audience alike with a fabulous insouciance which lights up the stage whenever he is on it. Liv delivers unforced and devastating poignancy. James and Neil round off the excellent team with their tightly executed appearances. Additional plaudits to James for his brilliant German accent and all-round madness...

The set, lighting and sound are extremely effective in conveying the atmosphere of paranoia, mind-games and ultimate futility and stale-mate of the cold-war, and the play itself is an intelligent and exciting exploration of the aftermath of WWII, where former allies become new and confusing enemies and the dyanmics of a decades-long stalemate are beginning to reveal themselves.

One small criticism: I didn't like Pat's retrospecive 3rd person monologues - not because Adam doesn't deliver them beautifully, but just because I feel that they add little additional insight into character and situation that we don't get from the action. Also, the dynamics and interaction between the cast on stage are so compelling, I just wanted the monolgues over so that we could get back to the action.

Congratulations to Lisa on a wonderful production - all involved should be very proud.

Brilliant writing coupled with some brilliant perfomances makes for a great night.

Gallery

Reminiscences and Anecdotes

Members are encouraged to write about their experiences of working on or seeing this production. Please leave your name. Anonymous entries may be deleted.

See Also

References

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External Links

The German night watchman (Dieter Stahl) recalled during the play that he had been at this battle:

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