Black Raven’s HAUS

Ruth Muckenschnabl and Aaron Scully in Dimitris Armatas’ HAUS

Black Raven Productions’ HAUS is set in an underground cellar during the Nazi occupation of Poland in 1942. A family is hiding there. On the sparse stage there are 3 suitcases piled on of top of each other. In essence, this is the problem. Too much baggage. Any artwork which deals with Holocaust events speaks to an audience which has experienced many, many previous incarnations of the horrific themes. For an audience to pack away their previous familiarity and buy into a new representation, the show must be really, really good. This show is not that … yet …

Trapped in the cellar below a fat woman’s house for three years are four survivors. Three Polish siblings and a German.

Milos (Dimiri Armatas), a young man strong in his Jewishness. He wears his skull cap- his yarmulke- with great pride. Maria (Ruth Muckenschnabl), who superficially appears hesitant and shy and longs for a window through which to observe the world. Helena (Helen Vienne) is fierce in her determination to support the men who courageously venture out and scrounge for vegetables and steal bread.

The other character is Heinrich (Aaron Scully). He is German, married to Maria against the wishes of his family and determined to do the right thing. He was away when the Nazis came and since returning to rescue them, he has channeled his guilt into protectiveness of his chosen family.

This play is based on a true story and the audience can feel the writer’s drive to tell it. Dimiri Armatas, co-founder with Ruth Muckenschnabl of Black Raven Productions, is the writer and he has created an intimate work on the page. There is a strong sense of claustrophobia and fear. A scene where there are footsteps above the cellar is especially evocative. There are clear characters and he writes the women well.

Maria’s ‘We’re women!’ is one of the more powerful speeches of the piece. The playwright also puts the subtext there for an audience to find. The love between Maria and Heinrich, for example.

Unfortunately, the direction by Neil Kharehas not supported the text as well as it might but there are some good directorial aspects. His vision for set, audio and costuming are strong and cohesive though I might disagree with his choice of warm tones in the lighting when cold, paleness is required. Khare has very tight control over movement and the cast have a fluid use of all the space which encourages audience involvement and eliminates any boredom. But the characters need to be more than the performances he has allowed his talented cast to slip into.

Heinrich huffs and puffs all the time and pauses way too often before lines. Maria fades too much into the background. Milos doesn’t range from boy to man. When Heinrich leaves on a dangerous task, there is not even any eye contact let alone a kiss from his wife.

Is HAUS worth seeing in this, its second outing? Definitely. In the baggage I brought to this show I knew this setting, these characters and this situation but I did not know this particular story. Probably needed for its third outing is a clearer arc of growth for Milos so he becomes the sympathetic character that the climax requires, and also a slightly more overt undercurrent of steel in Maria to facilitate that climax. But this play has weight and power and it is still developing. I feel privileged to have seen it in its seminal state and look forward to the next time I encounter it.

HAUS is playing at King Street Theatre, Newtown from 5th-15th November 2014.

For more about Haus: Black Raven Productions at King Street Theatre, visit http://https://www.facebook.com/pages/Black-Raven-Productions/574393782594328