Review: THE ANIMATOR, Southwark Playhouse
Photo credit: Luisa De la Concha Montes
It’s always a delight to return to Southwark Playhouse, and the Little performance space in this case, for a quite remarkable piece based on the life of the great but unjustly little-known film-maker Lotte Reiniger. Akimbo Theatre, known for their group working methods and expertise in physical theatre, have created a production which is both vastly entertaining and also capable of raising important issues.
Lotte Reiniger created a full-length animated feature film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, in 1926: more than ten years before Disney’s Snow White. Reiniger was working in Berlin where she set up her animation studio, but had to leave as the situation in the city got worse for artists in the years leading up to WWII. Her early films were lost or forgotten for many years, and she was only given her due recognition in the later years of her life.
It's a complex and enthralling story, told in the signature Akimbo style with much use of sometimes startling stage combat, and physical storytelling through dance and movement. Many of the company share the experience of being Lecoq-trained and it shows in the expertise on stage; we can really see the set which is not there, the window that must not be opened and the secrets behind the invisible door.
Lexie Baker appears as Lotte, at first convincing as the older woman and then as the young film-maker in Berlin between the wars. It’s a total performance which enthralls and convinces, and also acts as the dramaturgical device around which the rest of the characters interact. Baker is also responsible for the costume design, itself helping greatly in instantly creating character when worn by such skilled actors.
Richard Durning pulls off a nice double as manic technician Bertolt (and he is, in fact, also responsible for the sound on the show) and a rich visiting American, Junior. Owen Bleach plays at least three roles, and is particularly effective as the German film censor insisting on the same sex kiss being removed from Prince Achmed, with the production drawing apposite links between this incident and the book-burning going on at the same time.
Flo Weidenbach is seen mainly as Candy, the nightclub dancer who sees Junior as their chance to escape Nazi Germany. Also adept at operating the shadow puppets, they have also acted as co-dramaturg for the production. The final member of the cast is Halvor Tangen Schultz, mostly playing love interest for Lotte, Karl Koch, but also able to transform into an instant into a thuggish representative of the state – so convincingly in fact that I thought there was another member of the cast.
Akimbo member Pierre Moullier has created the convincing stage combat, and Rosanna Mallinson is director (and co-dramaturg). It is a mark of the maturity of companies like Akimbo that, whilst working as a group to create a production, they also recognise the need for a named director to meld that creation into a memorable dramatic experience for audiences.
Once again, Southwark Playhouse have brought great theatre to a small space, but it’s a short run so all who appreciate physical theatre as its best should rush to see this remarkable piece. Let’s hope we see more of Akimbo and their inventive and delightful work.
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Chris Abbott
The Animator plays at Southwark Playhouse Borough until 30 August, with further info here.
