A Mirror, Belvoir St Theatre, Upstairs Theatre, 21 Feb-22 Mar

 

Plays with a twist are the hardest to review - particularly this one, where when we arrive we're expecting to see a play - but the stage is set for a wedding, with groom and registrar and best man standing by, handing out programs of the wedding to the audience with an order of service. But there are hints that all is not as it should be - as you climb the stairs to the upstairs theatre, all the posters of previous shows normally on the stairs are marked out as "censored by the department of culture", and the back of the order of service includes an Oath of allegiance with promises to "offier my body and mind to the eternal glory of the Motherland". Of course this is no ordinary wedding, but instead we're involved in a story about art and its influences, and those who try to control it. 

The core ensemble of Rose Riley, Eden Falk, Faisal Hamza and Yali Ozucelik are a strong unit, playing the two levels of the play with skill and care, as the facade of the wedding slips into the storytelling and it is apparent the story we're being told is one at great personal risk. The nature of the risk doesn't become completely clear until the finale, but there's enough indication along the way of what might be coming any moment to keep tension throughout for a tight 1 hour 50 minutes without intermission. Angelina Daniel's set looks simultaneously realistic and yet adapts to the other requirements of the story with the help of Phoebe Pilcher's lighting design. 

I'm being deliberately obtuse about the content of Sam Holcroft's script, because the best way to enter this show is to know as little as possible and to be engrossed by the questions it asks. It's not a show presenting easy answers to challenging questions about personal integrity, and it leaves you moved and shaken.