Written and Directed by Julia Pascal
Review by Marina Funcasta
Renowned for her dizzying intellect, Hannah Arendt is no easy subject to bring to the stage; yet Julia Pascal seems an apt person for the job. Intimately familiar with feminist Holocaust history, having written several plays on the topic, Pascal has long been drawn to women whose histories have been overlooked. It is interesting, then, that what compelled me most about The Banalities of Evil; Hannah Arendt, France, 1940 is not its protagonist, but the women orbiting her periphery.
Our ensemble embody the range of personalities who were present alongside Arendt at Gurs. While their names are briefly mentioned, they float on and off the stage with painful inconsequentiality; only Charlotte Salomon or Eva Daube are sustained, played with ferocity by Anna Eckard and Ariella Barnett. Beyond their names, however, Pascal avoids sharing personal details about their lives; it is only through their work, and their endurance of the poor working conditions, through which their identities are formed.
As we see in the twenty-three scenes that follow, the indignities of the camp are ubiquitous. Our women receive no rest from exhausting labour and widespread illness resort in bodily humiliation. There is even an intimation of sexual violence. Carmen Neat’s minimal set and Lesley Lightfoot’s unassuming costumes strip the stage of comfort, leaving the women’s bodies exposed to the harshness of their surroundings.
Pascal’s refusal to shy away from these experiences is a strength. It reinstates these women, whose lives risk being lost or erased from the archive, with some dignity. We see this culminate when the women perform a trial for Trude’s theft of bread. Arendt, the Judge, is played by Mia Weisz with clinical severity, achieving what was perhaps the most potent moment of the play during her monologue to Trude, preserved with wavering doubt by Pat Dynowska. Here, the women assert what little they have left: their capacity to judge, hold one another accountable and sustain a moral community within an institution that denies their humanity. In a world where justice has lost its meaning, their attempt to uphold it becomes an extraordinary act of resistance.
It is the scene’s stillness that allows the women’s relationships to emerge with a clarity that the rest of the production struggles to achieve, however. Pascal borrows much from Brecht to guarantee their political resonance, but unfortunately the result is bloated. Combining music, physical theatre, multi-lingual narration, with layers of history and fragmented narrative, the effect is dizzying. This is a shame, as each section is very well-oiled; the music, arranged by Anja Fahlenkamp, is a highlight.
This noted, I find it puzzling that Pascal titles the production after Arendt’s own work, exploring the trial of Adolf Eichmann and the nefarious normalisation of evil. While perhaps this is alluded to in the trail scene, this philosophical question dissolves before it can be fully explored. Indeed, much like its interrogation of history and violence, Pascal’s script does not entirely resolve the questions it raises but does make them difficult to ignore.
A Compelling Ensemble
The Banality of Evil: Hannah Arendt, France, 1940 runs at The Coronet Theatre until 7th November
Running time: One hour and twenty minutes without interval
Photo credit – Alex Brenner
Review by Marina Funcasta (contact@corrblimey.uk)
Marina is halfway through an English literature degree at Edinburgh University, wherein she has been (considerably) involved in the drama scene: enjoying performing with their Shakespeare Company shows, but also modern takes on Arthur Miller. However, Marina’s interests are wide-ranging under the theatre genre – enjoying abstract, more contemporary takes on shows (with a keen interest in Summerhall)
