Esther Richardson’s revival of Poliakoff’s 1984 play concerns a wealthy Jewish family in the aftermath of the Russian revolution. Loosely based on the experiences of Poliakoff’s own grandfather, it focuses on the tale of aristocratic inventor Nikolai (Philip Bretherton, pictured), who works as a telephone examiner and lives in a railway carriage while racing to perfect a method of recording sound on to film.
Big historical themes are submerged in the intimate details of family life, as Nikolai’s vision of a new method of mass communication contrasts with his failure to explain anything to his wife Eugenia (Diana Kent), son Sasha (Ilan Goodman) or servant Polya (Celia Meiras) in his ordinary life. Historical events are transforming everything around him, but Nikolai remains stubbornly unaffected.
The cramped energies of the group are vividly recreated inside Jamie Vartan’s impressive railway carriage set, and Bretherton’s performance holds Nikolai’s contradictory character on a knife-edge between comically absurd and tragically flawed.
Wayne Burrows, Metro
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Richardson’s staging displays a sensitivity to the absurdities that can arise from extreme circumstances … Jamie Vartan’s hefty steam-filled set looks impressive ...
The writing hums with resonance. The necessity of honouring the past without becoming trapped there emerges powerfully, and sociological change is vividly suggested in the family’s shifting relationships. Nikolai’s wife Eugenia (Diana Kent), permitted to work for the first time, finds a release from years of stifling bourgeois marital frustration. Their former servant Polya (Celia Meiras) gradually sheds her subordinate status. Their son, Ilan Goodman’s gawky Sasha, grows from a cossetted boy into an anxious young man whose privileged upbringing makes him feel an imposter in his home country.
Sam Marlowe, The Times
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Nottingham Playhouse’s current play is the first major UK production of Poliakoff’s Breaking the Silence since its premiere at the Barbican Pit in 1984. Advertised as ‘continuing a season of epic drama’ it does indeed sit in a dramatically pivotal time in early 20th century Russian history...
Within that momentous period we have the intimate story of a middle class Jewish family... The story is an interesting one by Poliakoff, as it is loosely based on family history, his grandfather being an inventor, one of the first people in the world to record sound on film.
So how does this translate into an evening of theatre? It offers a wonderful opportunity for a dramatic set – in Nottingham’s case, a life-sized railway carriage placed within a cinematic setting, with lots of steam, sound effects and flickering film. Full marks to designer, Jamie Vartan, and composer and sound designer, Stuart Briner. The coup de grace comes at the very end – no letting out secrets here!
At the beginning of the play Nikolai the father, (Philip Bretherton) autocratic and dictatorial, is the central figure. Bretherton is good at the imperious manner and time-trapped image... As time progresses the women (Diana Kent and Celia Meiras) take over the stage – we enjoy their liberation, their growing energy, their confidence and increasing worldly success. Kent and Meiras inject vibrancy just at the right time. Ilan Goodman as Sasha develops from small boy to independent youth, an important character whose one big gesture infuses the play with heightened tension.
... director Esther Richardson presents a story to hold our attention, with many strands to ponder – the obsession of the creative artist, the changing role of women, the breaking down of class barriers ... And all in the context of a mystery – will Nikolai succeed with his invention? An escape story - now refugees, will the family manage to cross the border from Russia to Poland? Go and find out the answer for yourselves!
Elaine Peel, Theatreworld
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Although Philip Bretherton’s performance as Nikolai is faultless, it’s impossible not to mention also the excellent set which, in the Playhouse’s trademark style, has unexpected moving bits ... an excellent production and ... an interesting family portrait
Adrian Bhagat, LeftLion
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NOTTINGHAM Playhouse’s current production of Stephen Poliakoff’s 1984 play Breaking the Silence is a sleek, professional performance of this historical drama which has not been performed for 20 years. ...
Initially, I found the upper-middle-class family slightly irritating, feeble and self-indulgent, particularly the female characters who seem unable to make decisions for themselves.
But as the story unravels, the audience becomes aware that their weaknesses are mainly a product of 19th Century subordination of women and while the revolution left the country dangerous and uncertain, the female characters do at least realise some degree of independence.
I thought that the production of this play was very impressive, particularly the juxtaposition of family life in the carriage and the raging, barbaric war outside –– which was extremely poignant.
Catherine Allan, Mansfield Chad
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SCENERY ON TRACK TO SUCCESS
THE obvious star of this play is the realistic railway carriage inside which the entire action is set. It puffs smoke into the audience, clanks and heaves, leaves and arrives at god-forsaken stations and, at the end, turns full circle.
It makes you feel claustrophobic but perhaps it’s supposed to. It encapsulates the protagonists from the upheavals outside. ...
Philip Bretherton ... gives us all Nikolai’s comic social pretentiousness and single-minded genius. ,,, His apparent idealism about England is an amusing irony. ,,,
Polya’s (Celia Meiras) transformation from illiterate servant to assertive woman, and the self-emancipation of Eugenia (Diana Kent) from upper-class helplessness to resourceful woman are both beautifully done. Eugenia’s eloquence at the end is a highlight.
Alan Geary, Nottingham Evening Post
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Philip Bretherton relishes the role of an arrogant and self-deluding man with contempt for women and an inability to relate to his family. ...
The narrowing and expansion of the aperture through which the action is viewed gives it a cinematic feel. Clouds of steam coupled with the mighty mechanisms of a moving train are atmospheric and there’s a spectacular trademark ending by the designer, Jamie Vartan…..
…..the four-year interval marking the opening of the second half brings speed and liberation. Nikolai’s submissive wife, Eugenia, played by Diana Kent, once terrified of shedding her stockings, is now a confident working woman. The cosseted son, Sasha (Ilan Goodman), is trying to scuff his indestructibly English shoes in an effort to shake off a privileged background that now embarrasses him.
The feisty maid, Polya (Celia Meiras), best epitomises the reversals brought about by huge world events but the relationship between Nikolai and Verkoff (Owen Aaronovitch), the Commissary who ought to unmask him and doesn’t, is the most subtly drawn.
Pat Ashworth, The Stage
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…designer Jamie Vartan……has come up with an amazing set which captures the decrepitude of the railway carriage, so alien to the Pesiakoffs who considered themselves part of the Russian aristocracy. There’s also a filmic look at the start and during scene changes.
With atmospheric lighting from James Farncombe and intriguing sound from Stuart Briner…the acting is first rate…
Philip Bretherton gives an absorbing performance as Nikolai, steadfast in his refusal to bow down to the authorities; passionate about his work; quick to lose his temper; and a proud father who, despite being a good family man, is prepared to risk everything to fulfil his dream.
Bretherton looks every inch an elegant aristocrat and there’s just the hint of a mad professor in his portrayal which fits the role perfectly.
There’s excellent support from Diana Kent as Nikolai’s loyal wife Eugenia, who covers up for him by fabricating records which the authorities demand of him; and Celia Meiras as the rebellious maid Polya who’s an invaluable help to Nikolai’s work.
Ilan Goodman almost steals the show as the Pesiakoffs’ son Sasha, developing from a frightened, timid boy into a confident teenager whose close relationship with his father is tested as the youngster doesn’t share his father’s desire for non-conformism…..
…….overall it’s an admirable presentation of a rarely performed work which has become one of the impressive hallmarks of Nottingham Playhouse.
Steve Orme The British Theatre Guide
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Philip Bretherton makes entirely credible a man who is so single minded and arrogant he seems at times to be completely implausible! His single mindedness in the pursuance of his dreams, even to the extent of endangering his family, is astonishing – and amusing. …
It is the women of the piece who are liberated by the tragic situation they find themselves in. Diana Kent is excellent as Nikolai’s wife, Eugenia. The stifling social constraints she is frustrated by are gradually stripped away as the existing social order is turned on its head, allowing her to develop into a happy, independent and brave woman. …
Polya (Celia Meiras), the faithful family servant, who stays because she has nowhere else to go, is also allowed to grow and flourish as a person within the claustrophobic confines of Jamie Vartan’s railway carriage set. ...
All this may sound very worthy but this tragi-comedy doesn’t seek to make moral judgements or teach us a lesson. It is a story of a family and an insight into the human condition with all its absurdities. The humour of the piece is found in the most unlikely places, as in life.
Jen Mitchell, Reviewsgate |
