REVIEW | The Most Precious Of Goods, Marylebone Theatre
Written by Cathie
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Please take note this production contains subject matter about the Holocaust.
This is a play unlike many you will find in London. Adapted into a play from Jean-Claude Grumberg’s devastating ‘fairy tale’ novella “The Most Precious of Cargoes”, this story is a chilling reminder of the depravity humans are all too capable of. Less of an acted play than a re-enacted scene of childhood nostalgia as the narrator (Samantha Spiro) sits in a large armchair and reads the novel in warmly inviting tones. She is accompanied by the brilliant Gemma Rosefield playing cello throughout and together this dynamic duo has the entire audience completely spellbound in sorrow as we listen to their tale.
The story starts with an old woodcutter’s wife living in the forests of Poland, who longs for a child and after praying to ‘the gods of the train’ to give her a baby and one day they do. One of the best ways to showcase horror in media is through the eyes of the innocent and wizened though the old woman sounds, she shows us the heart stopping evil in Europe in 1943 through her innocence and fierce heart. The train is the cattle truck heading to the concentration camps, returning empty to gather more poor innocent souls for the ‘hungry oven’, and the baby they gave her was thrown from the train in utter desperation, as the hero attempts to ensure that at least one of his family will survive. The rest of the two unfold as the audience desperately wills the infant and old woman to survive every trial thrown at them.
Carly Brownbridge’s design evokes the scene of the forest well. Stretching into the sides of the stage, the ‘trees’ are created by streams of numbers which sombrely referenced the numbers tattooed onto concentration camp victims. These trees frame the raised dais at the centre of the stage, where the narrator’s cosy armchair rests as they unfold the story with their incredibly nuanced voice. The final section is the large projector screen rising like a monolith above the stage. It displays a series of black and white photographs, many from the time the story is set, and these vividly deliver the key events of the tale into stark relief.
At 80 minutes running time, this play speedily moves along and leaves you desperate to find out what happens next. There is never a dull moment and the pacing is handled well. One of the most terrifying aspects of the play is that the horrifying events being retold to us by the narrator not only happened in 1943 but are still happening in some form around the world today. The characters, with their gruff kindness, desperation and bitterness are so like the people we pass unthinkingly on the street every day. It reminds us to be careful of thinking of others as ‘heartless’ and the importance of small acts of kindness changing everything around us. Considering that Grumberg’s grandparents and father went through this same route described so vividly and were murdered in the camps makes the message this story is trying so desperately to convey hits that much harder. This was acknowledged at the ending of the play which had the audience so spellbound that it took a minute for everyone to realise it had finished. This is a heart-rending beautiful adaptation of the French novella.
This play is running for only 2 short weeks until 3rd February 2024. It’s short run coincides with Holocaust Memorial Day (27th January). If you want to understand more about hope, the resilience of love, how to retain your humanity in the face of evil and the fragile fight of hope against truly dark times then this play is for you.
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
