I'm exhausted. That kind of curtains-closed, emotionally drawn tired that sucks out the marrow of life. No doubt thanks to the stunning play I saw this afternoon at the Theatre Royal, as Taken at Midnight unfolded on the stage. It was brilliant.
As I travel back to Costa del Merseyside for the weekend, I'm left crashing hard on to the rocks of an emotion hangover. I'm reeling from the 'second-hand emotion' (Thanks, Downton) of Penelope Wilton, whose role was the mother of incarcerated Hans Litten (Martin Hutson). Not a single line was wasted. The set was cast in expressionistic shadow which framed the harsh lines and sharp angles of the cell walls. I sound pretentious, but full disclosure: I don't care - this stuff interests me and it's my blog.
Despite the mise en scène, it felt very real. And it was; Taken at Midnight portrays the true story of Hans Litten's call to put Hitler in the witness stand and his struggle afterwards. I thought Hutson played Litten's last months in Dachau like a broken man reads his bruises like instructions. It was so powerful that I felt overwhelmed all at once by the weighty fact that 6 million+ people were murdered.
Plays like Taken at Midnight not only offer a voice for political prisoners, but show the brutality of SS and SA soldiers before the war broke out. I hope this 'sort-of' review has done the play justice.
You can watch an interview with Penelope Wilton and director, Mark Hayhurst, here:
In other theatre related news, earlier this week when I told one of my housemates that I'd been to see Kindertransport, a play about children of the Holocaust, she asked, "What's the Holocaust?". I was shocked that even at 22, she has no knowledge of the Holocaust at all. She may be smart, but she won't be the only one! The average age in Theatre Royal today must've been about 50. I guess that I, at 21, was one of the youngest members of the audience. Are my generation even bothered about Holocaust memory? If humans don't know or care about the horrors of the past, we cannot learn from it and are therefore destined to repeat it.
As I return to the Wirral in a lottery/lucky dip between confusion and sentiment you may find I'm only contactable by owl post this weekend. Alternatively, you could try morse code but even the Wizza has signal these days.
Despite the mise en scène, it felt very real. And it was; Taken at Midnight portrays the true story of Hans Litten's call to put Hitler in the witness stand and his struggle afterwards. I thought Hutson played Litten's last months in Dachau like a broken man reads his bruises like instructions. It was so powerful that I felt overwhelmed all at once by the weighty fact that 6 million+ people were murdered.
Plays like Taken at Midnight not only offer a voice for political prisoners, but show the brutality of SS and SA soldiers before the war broke out. I hope this 'sort-of' review has done the play justice.
You can watch an interview with Penelope Wilton and director, Mark Hayhurst, here:
In other theatre related news, earlier this week when I told one of my housemates that I'd been to see Kindertransport, a play about children of the Holocaust, she asked, "What's the Holocaust?". I was shocked that even at 22, she has no knowledge of the Holocaust at all. She may be smart, but she won't be the only one! The average age in Theatre Royal today must've been about 50. I guess that I, at 21, was one of the youngest members of the audience. Are my generation even bothered about Holocaust memory? If humans don't know or care about the horrors of the past, we cannot learn from it and are therefore destined to repeat it.
As I return to the Wirral in a lottery/lucky dip between confusion and sentiment you may find I'm only contactable by owl post this weekend. Alternatively, you could try morse code but even the Wizza has signal these days.
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