ED2015 3/5 Reviews ED2015 Theatre Reviews

Man To Man (Wales Millennium Centre)

By Rebecca Jacobson | Published on Tuesday 25 August 2015

Inflation is crippling Weimar Germany. Boys show their political loyalties by pissing swastikas into the snow. Against this backdrop, Ella (Margaret Ann Bain) makes a daring move: when her husband dies, she adopts his identity – working as a crane driver and enlisting when war arrives. German dramatist Manfred Karge’s 1982 play is a fractured prose-poem, unfolding with hallucinatory bleakness. This production, all shades of grey and brown, is appropriately dreary. But the technical effects – dramatic video projections, thundering sound effects – suggest Wales Millennium Centre don’t trust their audiences’ intelligence. More than that, they don’t trust Bain, who moves between roles with phenomenal lyricism and vigour. Scampering up walls or dropping into a deep vocal register, she needs none of the accompanying fireworks.

Underbelly Potterrow, until 31 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Rebecca Jacobson]