There’s a lot of context you need to be aware of before you can appreciate the significance of this hour or so of drama.Back in the 1960’s and 70s Brook established a god-like reputation for innovation combining the immediacy of German expressionism with romanticism and a detailed approach to text which resulted in a number of landmark productions.
His staging was uncluttered, unfussy and often breathtaking in its eloquent simplicity. For example he created a MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM in a vast white box decades before directors-of-the moment began employing this aesthetic.
The world learnt from Brook that you could tell complex and powerful stories with few props, plain costumes and empty stages if the performers played the character's intentions clearly enough.
These techniques have been used in low-budget theatre all over the world, every night, ever since. But he started it.
The next thing you’ll need prior knowledge of to get the best out of seeing this production is the ancient Indian Mahabharata, a vast, sprawling account of Indian myth that Brook once staged over nine hours to universal acclaim.
BATTLEFIELD dips in to this text to focus in on an hour in the final section. There has been a terrible battle and various characters from the epic are wandering around making gnomic pronouncements and cross referencing events with parables.
I once had to swat up on the Mahabharata on a plane to India where I was directing a project. It was my first visit to India and studying the text through out my stay added to my intoxication with the culture and country.
If you haven’t had the benefit of this you’re only likely to get a vague sense of who any of these characters are, like starting the box set of BREAKING BAD two episodes before the end.
And to be honest one of the big questions about BATTLEFIELD is why do this?
You will however get a strong sense of the nobility and elegance of the ancient text and Brook’s approach to theatre as mighty rulers and wise folk debate war, peace and the purpose of life through the simple dramatisation of legend, all presented entirely convincingly with a few sticks and pieces of silk to a live drum accompaniment.
Moving at a stately and glacial pace, the beautiful actors voices and the tales of animals and spirits has the feel of a religious ritual.
Alas, on press night, like so much religious ritual it resulted in many observers falling asleep.
Probably a production for Brook students and Indian mythology fans only.
I make a point of trying to see the positive in everything I review unless the piece is lazy and cynical. THE END OF LONGING is lazy, cynical and cruel. It’s a first play by Matthew Perry who starred in the world’s best loved U.S TV sit-com, FRIENDS, in the 1990s.