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Theatre

Review: Address Unknown

July 15, 2013 09:14

ByJohn Nathan, John Nathan

1 min read

There are two adaptations of Kathrine Kressmann Taylor’s 1938 epistolary novella at the Soho. One French — the language in which the book was originally adapted for the stage — the other English. In the latter, Simon Kunz and Jonathan Cullen play German-born best friends, one of whom returns to the Fatherland while the other — the Jewish one — carries on their art dealership in America.

Steve Marmion’s shadowy, evocative production, in which Max and Martin conduct their epistolary conversations from their respective writing desks, captures the slow disintegration of a friendship, and equally sedately, the rise of Nazi Germany. It would be wrong to reveal how Max wreaks his revenge on Martin from thousands of miles away for refusing to protect his fugitive sister from stormtroopers. But it’s an exquisitely realised act of vengeance.