This powerful, chilling play will haunt you .Underneath a thin veneer of gallows humour and bad Jewish jokes is a play that forces us to question the core of all our morals and the very existence of God.

This is the Australian premiere of Richard Langridge’s play. Set in Germany in 1943, in unusual circumstances a comedy double act must face the Gestapo and perform a political propaganda piece written for them, all the while battling stage fright and their own demons.

There is wonderful dialogue with some great set speeches that reveal the many layers of trust and friendship between Johann Frink (Daniel Mitchell) and Otto Hansen (Mark Kilmurry) .They are a duo that have been together for years and know each other’s annoying traits and endearing foibles ( although Otto does rage at Johann for being reserved and not telling him anything) .

There is also much discussion about the purpose of life, art and theatre. As part of their rehearsing for the mysterious performance we see various music hall routines- like bits of wonderful creamy physicality and various sight gags .One of their trademark routines is a running gag about a fishing rod and a balloon ‘rock’. They try to make things topical and incorporate jokes about being on the Russian front and so on.

From the opening of the play there is a sense of unease, a sense of eerie mystery – why is the performance scheduled so late? where actually are they…? .The trains, gunshots ,planes overhead and so on make both Johann and Otto and the audience very tense and jumpy ( Answers to the questions are revealed very slowly throughout the play ) .There is very effective lighting and a distinctive, imposing office set with heavy velvet curtains, stuffed animals mounted on the walls and heavy desks and chairs, all so typical of the 1940’s .

Daniel Mitchell as Johann is superb. Johann is the smaller, darker, more reserved of the duo. He’s mostly the more dignified, ‘straight man’ of the two. He has some moments of almost manic madness in Act 1 , and his defiant recitation of scripture during the bombing raid in Act 2, while in the middle of getting made up, is extremely powerful – Lear like and gripping.

As Otto, Mark Kilmurry is marvellous .The ‘fall guy’ of the two he is the one who bears the brunt of the jokes , the one who does the acrobatic trick falls , all delivered with perfect comic timing,

Over the years their relationship has developed to be almost closer than brothers. There is a very moving moment in Act 2 when Johann is revealed as a Jew (the dinner they are provided with isn’t Kosher) – how will this affect their relationship ? Can they survive the night? the war ? what will happen next?

Captain Steiner now of the SS, who used to be a friend of Otto’s, is excellently played by Brian Meegan. At first the audience is ambivalent towards him, but he emerges as the villain of the piece, charming on the outside but underneath evil and destructive : an analysis of how essentially ‘good’ people can end up doing great evil. He has a great set speech towards the end of Act 1 where he praises the efficiency of the German transport system. His unexpected brutal treatment of his valet (Michael Ross) , while ‘rehearsing’ Otto and Johann, is shocking . When hotly questioned by Johann and Otto, he declares it is a ‘relief not to care’ and opens up a whole Pandora’s box of issues by declaring ,like Nietzsche, that morals no longer exist and that God is dead.

The play he has written, and demands that Johann and Otto perform, is full of chilling racist Nazi propaganda. In an effort to survive Otto learns the lines of Steiner’s ‘ideological entertainment’ and encourages Johann to do the same, just for him to regard it professionally, simply as another job. But in this case , while yes Johann can learn the lines, he is trapped by their inflammatory meaning.

Under the inspired direction of Sandra Bates the excellent cast give terrific performances of this disturbing, challenging and very moving play,

Sandra Bates’s production of Richard Langridge’s THE ACT, running at two hours with one interval, opened at the Ensemble Theatre, 78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli, on Wednesday 8th February and runs until Saturday 3rd March, 2012.

(c) Lynne Lancaster

11th February, 2012

Tags: Sydney Theatre Reviews- THE ACT by Richard Langridge, Sydney Play Of The Week, Sandra Bates, Daniel Mitchell, Mark Kilmurry, Brian Meegan, Michael Ross, Sydney Arts Guide, Lynne Lancaster.