Golem, Theatrical multimedia spectacle by the 1927 theatre company , Young Vic Theatre London, 10* out of 10

Golem is a an intelligent, relevant, humane and funny story full of deep insights into what it means to be human, innovative and alive in a world full of technological opportunities and pitfalls. This spectacle is truly original truly wonderful, as keeps the audience enchanted and indeed full of wonder. 

Have you ever felt that a smart general-purpose tool you bought is fantastically useful that before you know it has started to take over your life? 

As legend has it, in the 16th century Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel of Prague, built a Golem, a servant made of clay, a medieval robot which would only carry out the commands given to it by its master, the Rabbi. The German writer Gustav Meyrink's took up this theme in his classic 1914 novel "Der Golem". 

Golem a show written, created and played by the "1927" theatre company, is very much of our information age, even if the creation that gives this show its name shares its looks and some other characteristics with its illustrious legendary predecessor.  

Annie tells us this cautionary tale of her brother Robert, their friends and work colleagues. Robert and Annie have been brought up by their grandmother. Robert is a shy, geeky lad, who has a minor job in the "back-up department" of a large company. Annie together with Robert and friends is the lead singer/guitarist in the aspirational punk-band Annie and the Underdogs. Robert loves gadgets and buys all the ones an inventor friend of his comes up with. And so one day he comes home with his friend’s latest invention Golem, but as he and his friends will soon find out Golem is not quite like the previous toys and gadgets Robert has come home with and will soon have an impact on Robert, his friends and their relationships to each other.

Golem is a an intelligent, relevant, humane and funny story full of deep insights into what it means to be human, innovative and alive in a world full of technological opportunities and pitfalls. It is presented in a beautifully creative way, melding live performance of movement, music and narration seamlessly with beautifully inventive screen projections.  Think Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times meting Wallace and Gromit with a dash of Terry Gilliam (of Monty Python fame) thrown in.  The result is subtle, hilariously funny and superbly entertaining. 

Everything in this piece fits together beautifully without a a dull moment.

Golem is the 1927 theatre company's third show and a co-production with the Salzburg Festival, the Theatre de la Ville de Paris and the Young Vic, so it will go on international tour. Founders Paul Barritt and Suzanne Andrade, performer Esme Appleton  and producer Jo Crowley are the core of a fantastically talented ensemble.

This spectacle is truly original truly wonderful, as keeps the audience enchanted and indeed full of wonder. The young Vic to be congratulated for a presenting a spectacle that deserves to be showered with prizes and praise.  If you are in London go see it (it plays there until the end of January 2015); if not, catch it when Golem goes on international tour. 

Standing ovations from the rapt audience last Tuesday night and unreservedly 10* out of 10 from me.

http://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/golem

http://www.19-27.co.uk/golem/

Die Letzten Zeugen (The Last Witnesses), by Doron Rabinovici and Matthias Hartmann, Burgtheater, Vienna, Austria 10* out of 10

In a powerful, hard hitting and moving performance, 6 actual survivors of the Holocaust given voice by professional actors come together to bear witness. They show us an example of true courage, living meaningful lives after enduring unimaginable cruelty perpetrated on them and their families by their neighbours and compatriots. Saying yes to life despite of everything. German speakers should not miss the upcoming performances in Vienna (April, May 2015) or Salzburg (October 2015). English speakers can only hope that tentative intentions for an English performance can be realised. 

Burgtheater in Vienna, 24 March 2015. Marko Feingold walks to the front of the stage: “While in the concentration camp I had to endure an incredible amount of beatings and was constantly afraid to be beaten to death. I had three siblings of whom I do not know how they died. I only hope that they did not have to endure the beatings that left me alive.” Marco Feingold, lucid articulate, 102 years old, is part of a theatre piece devised by Doron Rabinovici and Matthias Hartmann. Hartmann is the German former Head of the Burgtheater, who left this post under the cloud of a financial mismanagement scandal; Rabinovici, author and historian, is the son of Suzanne –Lucienne Rabinovici, another survivor of the Shoah, also appearing in his piece. Rabinovici’s study of the Judenrat (Jewish Council) in wartime Vienna, Eichmann’s Jews, has appeared in English. So has his prizewinning satirical novel “Elsewhere”. The importance and problem of memory is a recurring theme in his work.

Based on books published by 7 survivors of the Shoah,  (Ari Rath, Marko Feingold, Rudolf Gelbard, Suzanne-Lucienne Rabinovici, Ceija Stojka, Vilma Neuwirth and Lucia Heilmann), the words of The Last Witnesses recount the events of the period February 1938, just before Hitler Germany annexed Austria, to 1946, one year after Hitler Germany’s defeat by the allied powers. They are read by professional actors. The faces of the actual survivors as they sit at the back of the stage listening to the actors detailing some of the most terrible events of their lives, are projected onto a screen by video.

With enormous courage they submit themselves to this ordeal, every time the piece is performed. No way that they will sleep well. Most likely they won’t sleep at all after a performance. 77 years after the beginning of the events they recount, the last witnesses are physically frail: two of the original group of eight have died before the premiere in 2013. On 23 March, one of the remaining protagonists was absent due to illness.

What their words have in common is an understated tone, a desire to be accurate, not to exaggerate (as if that were possible). Remarkably they wish to detail every instance, as rare as it was, where an Austrian neighbour, a German soldier behaved humanely. Sometimes this occurred for an instance, sometimes for the whole period of the persecution and murder, but when it happened it saved a life and gave hope. Of course, they also recount the much more widespread instances of neighbours and longstanding friends behaving abominably towards them.

Verba Volant, scripta manent – spoken words fly away, written words remain - and so the projection of a hand holding a fountain pen writing down the testimony the audience is listening to reminds us of the importance not to forget.

The second part of the evening consists of moderated discussions with the protagonists and interaction through questions and answers with the audience in the foyers and rehearsal rooms of the theatre.

Together with the survivors, Rabinovici and Hartmann have combined the means of theatre and the methods of oral and written history together into a new and powerful form. They have been able to do it thanks to the courage and the determination of the actual protagonists willing to endure what must be an ordeal. Yet they are here for the memory of those who were murdered and for the benefit of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of those against whom all these crimes were committed. They are here for those who resisted and for their successors; but they are here also for the benefit of the children, grand children and great grand children of those who committed these crimes and of the silent majority, who sat on the fence. After many years of the official Austria ducking and weaving  the reality of the country’s responsibility for the crimes of the holocaust - Hitler, Eichmann, Kaltenbrunner, Seyss-Inquart lead the ignominious list of the disproportionately high number of Austrian war criminals responsible for German Nazi crimes - official Austria, under considerable outside pressure is showing some signs of facing up to the many crimes against human beings and against humanity which many Austrians committed during World War II. 

Their courage and forbearance is rewarded by a packed mainly young audience, deeply moved and showing a lively interest during the question and answer sessions.

One can only hope that an English version of will be created, so that after Vienna and Berlin, young people in London, New York and other important English-speaking cities may get an opportunity to experience these last witnesses of events that shaped the consciousness if not the conscience of the world we live in.

http://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/en/aktuell/festivals/theatertreffen/archiv_tt/archiv_tt14/tt14_programm/tt14_programm_gesamt/tt14_veranstaltungsdetail_92635.php

The Nether, Play by Jennifer Hayley, directed by Jeremy Herrin, Duke of York’s Theatre, London 9* out of 10

With suspense from beginning to end this timely, award-winning sci-fi play on child sexual abuse and virtual reality worlds makes tense, uncomfortable viewing and raises many important questions of immediate relevance. Hard-hitting contemporary theatre in a brilliant set designed by Es Devlin. 

In a tastefully architected Victorian country house set in idyllically landscaped grounds Sims (Stanley Townsend) is the owner manager of a brothel. In a beautifully appointed bedroom twelve-year-old Iris (Isabella Pappas/Zoë Brough) receives shy young Woodnut for whom she is the preferred prostitute. 

Back to the not so distant future (the year 2050) and a sparsely furnished interrogation room. Sims looking less than elegant and shabbily dressed in modern casual attire is being subjected to interrogation by agent Morris (Amanda Hale) about his activities in a part of the internet where anything goes, the Nether. 

It soon becomes clear that the Victorian House is a fantasy world conjured up in disturbing realism on the Nether,  in a "Second Life" -like world with no sexual phantasies barred.  And the characters' identities in their actual and virtual realities may not all be what they seem.

At a time where the British establishment is reeling from what appears to be institutionalised child sexual abuse, Jennifer Hayley’s disturbing and important play makes very uncomfortable viewing. Although the sexual abuse which takes place is very carefully dealt with on stage, the inner discomfort of the audience at reluctantly picturing (or resisting the picturing of ) what is hinted at makes for a tense atmosphere. 

Jennifer Hayley's tautly written sci-fi thriller throws up many important questions: How far can government agencies go when investigating what people do on the internet? Do sexual crimes carried out in virtual worlds by the chosen avatars of real people count as real sexual crimes punishable in the real world? Are our chosen identities on the Nether (Internet) just as real as our identity (or identities) in real life?

This Royal Court Theatre production has much to commend it. Es Devlin’s set is brilliant, and excellently complemented by the lighting (Paul Pyant) and video design (Luke Halls).  Jeremy Herrin's direction keeps the audience in suspense and under tension. The acting ensemble is excellent. Stanley Townsend’s performance as Sims stands out; so do the child actresses Zoë Brough and Isabella Pappas who play Iris in alternate performances.

It was good to see many more young people than usual for a West End theatre transfer. This is an uncomfortable, suspenseful and worthwhile evening at the theatre that will stay with the audience for a long time.

https://www.londontheatredirect.com/news/1566/Full-Casting-Announced-For-West-End-Transfer-Of-The-Nether.aspx

Ex_Machina, Film 2015, written and directed by Alex Garland, 7.5* out of 10

With Ex-Machina, Alex Garland has written and directed not a great film, but a very good one. Among the cast, Alicia Vikander stands out, giving her artificially intelligent Ava a very human quality.

Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is a programmer in a highly successful search engine company created by IT genius and now reclusive billionaire Nathan (Oscar Isaac).

One day he finds out that he has won the first prize in a competition, spending a weekend with Nathan on his estate. It does not take long for Nathan to reveal that he plans to let Caleb in on his secret Artificial Intelligence project: the creation of an artefact indistinguishable from a human being in body and mind. Caleb’s job will be to spend time with Nathans latest prototype, the lovely Ava (Alicia Vikander), to assess by interviewing her to what extent Nathan has achieved what he has set out to do.

Artificial Intelligence is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages. To this Nathan has added some abilities one might describe as emotional intelligence and put it all in a very attractive package. Artificial Intelligence as a discipline is already far advanced so that science fiction films like this are visions of a potential not so distant future.

Of course, as we know since the legends of all time (Pygmalion, the Golem) and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein such beings tend to develop ideas of their own. Two nerdy men and an artificially intelligent woman or two is the kind of ménage- à-trois +, that gives the screen-play writer quite a few possibilities – and Alex Garland has used them quite skilfully to create not a great film, but a very good one.

Ex_Machina is an entertaining and suspenseful story about an important issue that our children or grandchildren may very well have to address in real life. The film works as a thriller but beyond that, raises important questions about society and technology.  Not least the topical question of how nerdy internet billionaires will decide to spend their sheer inexhaustible private resources without any effective democratic involvement, checks and balances, let alone controls of ethical boundaries.

Among the acting performances, Alicia Vikander stands out, giving her artificial character a very human quality.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers, written by David Hare directed by Rufus Norris, National Theatre London, 9* out of 10

A gripping, moving true story from the slums of Mumbai brought spectacularly to life by playwright David Hare and director Rufus Norris at the National Theatre. 

David Hare’s new play is the ambitious attempt to turn a Pulitzer Prize winning reportage about life in a Mumbai slum into entertaining theatre for London mainstream audiences.  My fear was that this excellent playwright would fail, as he had done in his play about the 2008 world financial crisis, “The Power of Yes”.  But I need not have worried: Behind the Beautiful Forevers is engaging, entertaining and in Rufus Norris’ production very watchable and at times truly spectacular.

Set in 2008 in the Annawadi slum neighbourhood, not far from the ever expanding Mumbai airport, the play tells the story of the slum-dwelling neighbourhood, making a meagre and risky living from collecting rubbish, or being part of various government schemes to help the poor, or being the go to person for fixing things with one other of India’s corrupt government services.  Hindu, Muslim and Christian, in many respects their relationships with each other are not much different from what they would be in middleclass neighbourhoods elsewhere in India or the Western world. But their lives are precariously balanced; in that way they too are not unlike the “Fiddlers on the Roof” whom Sholem Aleichem's Tevye the Milkman of Anatevka used as an analogy to describe his own people’s precarious existence. One small change, one wrong move and catastrophe can strike very quickly. Watching the action, it is not difficult to identify or sympathise with and dislike one or other of the characters.

A great merit of David Hare’s adaptation of Kathrine Boos book is that it tells us the story of the changing fortunes of more or less sympathetic characters in a thoroughly entertaining, sometimes funny, sometimes moving way, without ever campaigning for the pitiable poor or lifting the didactic index finger.

Bringing Annawadi to life on the Olivier Theatre stage is a very talented ensemble with some outstanding individual performances, Shane Zaza as Abdul, Anjana Vasun as Manju, Heyran Abesekura as Sunil). The challenges of the set design, lighting sound and direction are enormous and very successfully pulled off by the other creatives, notably designer Katrina Lindsay and lighting designer Paule Constable.

The very enthusiastic applause from the packed audience at the end of the performance last night was thoroughly deserved.

Now booking until 13 April 2015.

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/behind-the-beautiful-forevers

The Green Prince (2014), Documentary Film by Nadav Shirman, 9* out of 10

This is a true spy story about a most unlikely informant and his deceptively cuddly handler. Every avid reader of John Le Carré’s novels anticipates what must follow: the tough and cynical world of espionage agencies will triumph over any optimistic belief in human nature  – but reality can be stranger than fiction, even when it comes to trumping a comfortably pessimistic world-view.

The Green Prince tells the story of Mussab Hassan Youssef, son of one of the leaders of the Hamas movement, who for 10 years worked as an informant for the Israeli Shin Bet spy agency. The title of the film is the codename given to him by Shin Bet. Mussab Hassan Youssef and his Shin Bet handler Gonen Ben Yitzhak tell the almost unbelievable story in their own words through separate interviews. 

Mussab Hassan Youssef gives us considerable insight in how he became an informant and how he justified his role by preventing numerous suicide bombings of innocent Israeli civilians by the militant wing of Hamas. Both the informant and his handler, the latter initially much more cold and calculating, gradually developed personal motivations and a close relationship. That relationship, of course, is highly asymmetric. Ben Yitzhak is in the powerful position. He has the backing and support of the formidable Shin Bet behind him. Mussab Hassan Youssef has to rely entirely on himself. He risks life and limb every minute of every day. But gradually Hassan Youssef develops his own inner coherent narrative and self-confidence; the tables begin to turn.

At this point every avid reader of John Le Carré’s novels knows what will happen next. The tough and cynical world of espionage agencies must triumph over any optimistic belief in human nature  – but reality can be stranger than fiction, even when it comes to trumping a comfortably pessimistic world-view.

This is a story of a journey by two human beings whose lives intersect and who at different moments are compelled to make important decisions raising moral dilemmas that lie at the outer limits of normal human experience. The strength of this film is that it draws us into the question: what would I do?

For the deceptively cuddly Gonen Ben Yitzhak this is the story of an inner journey. For The Green Prince his code-name appears to foretell not only an inner journey but an amazing outer transformation: through the metaphorical kiss of Beverly Hills plastic surgery and dental work, Mussab Hassan Youssef morphs from unattractive frog to Hollywood like Prince Charming. 

The fictionalized action movie of his life may already be in the works, Green Prince - the musical cannot be far behind.

Nadav Shirman has created a compelling documentary that deservedly won the prestigious Sundance Festival 2014 audience award. The questions raised as you watch this movie will resonate for a long time.  A must see.

http://filmguide.sundance.org/film/13927/the_green_prince