Review: Holy Fool, Park Theatre

Holy Fool opens the Autumn-Winter season of the fabulous local Park Theatre in Finsbury Park. It’s a powerful start to the season, and it’s great to see this example of its commitment to new writing. The play is about the talented pianist and composer Dmitri Shostakovich (Mitya), who was a child during the Russian Revolution and grew up under Stalin. This play examines the tightrope he walks between personal creative expression and the violent caprices of a communist state which demands complete control. 

The first act of the play follows Mitya’s life in Russia under Stalin. It starts with the moment of elation at a successful performance of his modernist opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, which turns quickly to despair as Stalin walks out of the theatre, and the opera is denounced in the newspaper Pravda. This is the dynamic which drives the more successful first act: the claustrophobic fear of living under an unpredictable regime which stifles dissent and debate and the composer’s attempt to create, with honesty, within it. Benjamin O’Mahony, who plays Mitya, is physically taut with tension. The scenes between him and Jenna Augen, who plays Nina, are a joy to watch and are where the play comes alive as they discuss their shared passion for music and their shared despair at the state of their beloved Russia. 

The second act is more troublesome. The plot line is sprawling and the writing verbose and lacking in focus. With the death of Stalin, Russia has changed, but Mitya seems trapped in a cycle of dependency with the totalitarian state in which he lives. He becomes ill. He recovers. He agonises over his ‘Symphony No 4’ written during Stalin’s reign, but which he has hidden for 25 years, fearful of the authorities’ reaction to it. He is persuaded to publish it and goes on to thank the woman who inspires him to do so. In their conversations, the playwrights try to unpick his complicated relationship with Russia, the communist party and its leaders. It should be the philosophical and moral high point of the play, but leaden writing leads to a plodding, underwhelming conclusion.

 The actors give good performances, but there are some elements of the production which I felt were lacking. There seems to be quite a lot of time spent in semi-darkness, watching scenery being shuffled, sometimes with little notable effect. There’s an interesting use of audio to bolster the small cast. At points, we hear anonymous reactions to the composer’s works played out over loud speakers. In one scene, Mitya is sat in a chair in a spotlight and is questioned by the disembodied voices of his captors. In another voiceover, we hear of his wife’s death. It’s a clever way to bulk out the play, but I felt it lacked emotional heft, and in the case of something as important as the death of a main character, it felt wrong. There is a lot of music in this play — but if, like me, you are ignorant of the composer’s oeuvre, I would have appreciated some more signposting or explanation of the pieces. I spent a lot of the play waiting to hear his contentious 4th movement, and would have loved an explanation of why it was so potentially dangerous, but if it was played, it passed me by. There were powerful scenes too – the siege of Leningrad was a moving moment. But points which were clearly written to be seminal failed to hit home, like when Mitya is questioned about his weekly homework, showing his commitment to the party.

Holy Fool is formed from a bold and interesting idea. Shostakovich led an extraordinary life during a period of turbulence and trauma for his homeland. The clash between artistic endeavour and the external pressures facing artists is real and problematic. It’s particularly pertinent given the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctioning of people who voice dissent. I’m pleased to see a new play tackling such important and weighty issues. I feel there is real potential here, but it is disappointing that it left so little of a mark on me.

Writers: Rosalind Adler & Lea Sellers
Director: Kate Fahy
Set & Costume Designer: William Frickner
Lighting Designer: Oliver Fenwick

Holy Fool plays at the Park Theatre until Saturday 10 October