Review: The Mosinee Project, New Diorama Theatre

It’s clear that, in this time of Trump and Putin, lies and gaslighting are rife. There is often a confusion of fact and fiction that leaves us questioning what we should and do believe. The Mosinee Project by Counterfactual is an exploration of this issue, disclosing an extraordinary historical event that resonates with our contemporary situation. 

It’s Wisconsin USA, 1950 and the town of Mosinee has been overrun by Soviet forces. For an entire day the townspeople experience armed soldiers taking control, demanding identification, limiting entrance and exit to the town and blocking communication with the outside world. This is an event that actually took place; hard to imagine, and only partially true. It was all staged – faked in the context of the McCarthy era and at the dawn of the Cold War, by a group of right-wingers aiming to make the American public understand the real dangers of communism.

Right from the beginning of this play there’s a blurring of the lines between fact and fiction via the very theatricality of the delivery. The actors explain the historical event that’s been researched, introducing the figures involved in an almost documentary style, before adopting those roles to imagine what the experience might have been like from the position of people concerned. This transition between fact and performance acknowledges the idea of fakeness and creates a transparency within which the audience can recognise multiple sides to the story. 

The tale is related by a confident cast of three (Camilla Anvar, Jonathan Oldfield, Martha Watson Allpress) who play multiple characters as well as operate close up camera equipment to give depth to the storytelling. There’s a bit of flux in the consistency of their American accents on occasion, but largely the three are focused and entertaining, particularly Oldfield who invests impressive detail into a variety of distinct and appealing characterisations.

On the face of it, this story should be enacted as a straight farce: the ‘invasion’ seems a completely absurd exercise. But the straight delivery serves to underscore its ridiculous nature, and moments of humour emerge organically on the back of that. For example, we see the practicalities of rehearsing the ‘invasion’, where acting out terror just becomes funny in performance and repetition. The idea of storytelling, and how an account can be altered by perception, is used playfully, particularly in a scene that suggests what the Soviet view of the day might have been.

Good use of historical documentation gives rigour to the telling, particularly in the close up live streaming that portrays the entry into and takeover of the town. Newspaper images put faces to the actual participants, suggesting yet another perspective as we’re encouraged to imagine what it would be like for residents on the ground, and this humanises the documentary style.

The play has an intriguing, interesting premise, but it currently feels a little wordy with lots of information in the earlier segments, which causes the action to lag a little mid-show. Cutting ten minutes out would surely help the pace. It picks up latterly as the ‘invasion’ takes place and things become more dynamic, but this could go further, perhaps finding some real sense of terror to give contrast to the flaccid American complacency portrayed.

That being said, The Mosinee Project remains a timely piece about an extraordinary event. The connection of past and present discloses a human reluctance to face harsh reality even when immersed in it: the USA today? And the work sets fascinating questions about what people are really afraid of, the impact of storytelling and the form in which stories make their way into history.

Written & Directed by: Nikhil Vyas
Original Co-creator & Dramaturg by: Aaron Kilercioglu
Additional Material Devised by: Breffni Holahan, Jessica Layde, Jonathan Oldfield, Martha Watson Allpress & Millicent Wong
Set & Costume Design by: Grace Venning
Lighting Design by: Catja Hamilton
Sound Design by: Patch Middleton
Original Video Design by: Dan Light
Associate Video Design by: Lucy Rodgers
Fight Direction by: Robin Hellier
Produced by: Jessie Anand

The Mosinee Project runs at New Diorama Theatre until Saturday 22 March.
Check out our recent interview with Writer Nikhil Vyas here.