Review: ‘The Brothers’ by Reza

Review: ‘The Brothers’ by Reza De Wet – White Bear Theatre

South African playwright’s imagining of Chekhov draws the audience into Gothic tale set in late-19th century Russia.

Review: ‘The Brothers’ by Reza

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Karima Setohy’s production of Reza De Wet’s ‘The Brothers’ at the White Bear Theatre in Kennington is a powerful exploration of familial tensions, inconsolable grief and the pain of unrequited love.

Set in 1889 on the night before the funeral of Anton and Aleksander Chekhov’s brother Kostia, the play depicts a love triangle between the famous author, his older brother and Natalia, wife of Aleksander and former lover of Anton. As conversations continue, revelations from the past place extreme tensions on their relationships, pushing the characters to breaking point and drawing the audience into a Gothic imagining of late 19th century Russia.

White Bear Theatre is located in the back room of a cosy pub on Kennington Road. There is no stage: instead, two rows of wooden benches forming a right-angle frame the floor-level performance, which takes place in a simple set consisting of two doors, a desk with a chair, a bed and a couch. This proximity creates a wonderfully intimate, almost immersive feel that accentuates the taut performances of the three actors.

Ralph Aiken’s portrayal of Aleksander Chekhov wonderfully juxtaposes bitter resentment and remorse with moments of touching humanity. His considered performance brings to life a character who is part blubbering alcoholic spewing vitriol and part loving brother and scorned husband.

Edmund Sage-Green and Beth Dalloway are also excellent as Anton Chekhov and Natalia respectively, while Karima Setohy’s direction displays an understanding of the fact that De Wet meant for the play to be “an investigation into the way that Chekhov envisaged theatre…(he) intended elements that are still not explored in productions and understandings of his plays.” Here De Wet is referring not only to the pacey, rhythmic delivery of dialogue in Chekhov’s dramatic works that she hoped to emulate, but also a focus on mood and atmosphere before character. Indeed, it was Vsevolod Meyerhold, another Russian dramatist and contemporary of Chekhov, who said: “Chekhov’s art demands a theatre of mood.”

The script is laced with plosive alliteration expressing often vitriolic, meandering, contradictory imagery that frequently leaves the audience wriggling uncomfortably in a manner reminiscent of the effect created by the psychological explorations of Edgar Allan Poe or Franz Kafka, where characters’ motivations for their actions become less cut and dry as the drama proceeds. Indeed, Chekhov always maintained that it was an artist’s job to pose questions rather than answer them.

Three of De Wet’s other plays have also drawn heavily on Chekhov’s oeuvre for inspiration: Drie Susters Twee (‘Three Sisters Two’) is based on Chekhov’s Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard, while Uncle Vanya is based on Yelena and On The Lake borrows from The Seagull.

The late Reza de Wet wrote 12 plays in 15 years (five in English and seven in Afrikaans) and won more theatre and literary awards than any other South African playwright, including the prestigious Herzog Prize.

The Brothers runs until 6 April at 7.30pm on Friday and Saturday and at 5pm on Sunday at White Bear Theatre, 138 Kennington Park Rd, London SE11 4DJ.

Tickets: £14 (conc. £10). Book now at www.whitebeartheatre.co.uk

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