Richard Davies finds little to laugh about at the Orange Tree Theatre’s production of Winter Solstice
Winter Solstice is the UK premier of a play by German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig, who according to the programme is “the most performed playwright in Germany”. Translated by David Tushingham and performed by the Actors Touring Company, the play is billed by the Orange Tree Theatre as a “razor-sharp comedy”. On this basis, I was looking forward to an entertaining night out. Unfortunately, humour can be notoriously difficult to translate and by the end of the evening, my laughter muscles remained in need of exercise.
The play starts promisingly enough. It’s the day before Christmas eve. Albert and Bettina are a bickering married couple with a young daughter (whom we do not meet.) They are serious, liberal intellectual types, he is an academic and author, she is a film maker. Then Corinna, Bettina’s mother, arrives after a long, disrupted train journey. Mother and daughter don’t get on and Albert’s default response to domestic tension is to anaesthetize himself with wine and pills.
But an unexpected guest arrives, an elderly gentlemen that Corinna got talking to on the train and decided to invite along. Rudolf has delightful manners, plays piano beautifully and soon has Corinna behaving like a love-struck seventeen year old. He also inspires Konrad, an artist friend and admirer of Bettina. In fact Rudolf charms everyone in the house, except for Albert, who senses that something is not quite right with him, but can’t put his finger on it.
So far, this feels like classic Alan Ayckbourn territory, with Albert struggling to assert himself in his own household while all others are entranced by the stranger. But Winter Solstice has a much darker undercurrent, as Rudolf slowly reveals more about himself. It turns out he is from Paraguay. He only wants to play the music of great German composers, while disparaging the lack of Jewish composers. When Albert finally realizes who he really is, Rudolf denounces him as “a filthy Jew”.
To say that the play is short on laughs is an understatement. The mood of the play is further constrained by the authorial conceit of having the actors read out the stage directions, which include extensive character background notes. This feels like you are attending the first read-through in the presence of the author. Sometimes the actors do something different from the stage direction, like having a gulp of water, when they are supposed to be drinking wine. Although this can be ironic, it is also alienating, like the play is not really being performed at all. Even the names of the characters – Albert, Bettina, Corinna (ABC..) suggest that the whole thing is little more than an abstract intellectual exercise.
All said, the cast cope admirably within the limitations of the play. Nicholas Le Prevost is excellent as the twinkly-eyed Rudolf and Kate Fahy was totally convincing as Corinna. But unless extended metaphors about the resurgence of the far right in Germany are your idea of fun, I would recommend giving this one a miss.
Winter Solstice is at the Orange Tree until Feb 11. For tickets visit orangetreetheatre.co.uk
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Orange Tree Theatre
1 Clarence Street, Richmond, TW9 2SA
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Monday 12pm - 6pm Tuesday 12pm - 6pm Wednesday 12pm - 6pm Thursday 12pm - 6pm Friday 12pm - 6pm Saturday 12pm - 6pm Sunday Closed
