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Is a satire; a poignant love-story, a black comedy, a clash between the
sane and the insane, a flight between the real world and the "other" world?
The answer lies in one's own personal interpretation of the many themes
running through this three hour play.
The novel "The Master and Margarita" written by Mikhail Bulgakov in 1940 has been
ingeniously adapted for the stage by Edward Kemp in 2004. Bulgakov, born in
Kiev in 1891, was much admired by Stalin, but those works which included a
religious theme, as does this one, were banned during the communist regime.
Amazingly, the manuscript survived ("manuscripts don't burn" to quote from
the play itself) thanks to the tenacity of his wife Yelena, and was only
published in 1967 shortly before her death and 26 years after his. There
is a strong autobiographical feel to the play, The Master, a playwright,
and Margarita, his lover, being Bulgakov and Yelena.
The action is set in Jerusalem 33AD and in Moscow 1900 years later. The
time-scales are intertwined, creating a play within a play, enabling the
boundaries of reality to shift, reminiscent of a Shakespeare plot.
The opening scene is set in Jerusalem, with Pilate interrogating Yeshua,
and we soon discover that this is a rehearsal for a new play, but it is not
going well. The rehearsal is stopped and we find ourselves in a 1930's
Moscow theatre as the playwright interrupts proceedings to make refinements
to the script and where he meets Margarita (Clare Holman). They become
lovers and she names him The Master (Sam West), giving him a hat with the
letter M on it. The anguish of The Master to get his play about Yeshua
accepted unabridged by the theatre directors, who in turn must satisfy the
Authorities but repeatedly fail, a reality under the Stalinist regime that
plagued writers such as Bulgakov, dominates Act One. In despair he sets
fire to the manuscript.
Woven into these problems we meet a mysterious stranger, Woland, alias the
Devil, played brilliantly by Michael Feast. With glistening metal teeth and
eyes each radiating a different colour, we first see him in the guise of a
German with a wonderful over-the-top accent and wonderfully over-acted
too. It is at this point that the atmosphere of the play moves up a gear
or two. Woland offers to put on a magic show, and there is real magic
too, encouraging everyone to enjoy the delights of his world.
In the second act we see The Master, now deemed insane, and others in a Russian
clinic. We experience Margarita selling her soul to the Devil in order to
rescue her lover, The Master, from his insanity. Woland organises A Ball
where the guests are ghouls, all once murderers, and each appears to have
their way with Margarita. It ends with The Master and Margarita being
reunited on the night of the spring full moon.
Throughout the play we meet many characters, perhaps too many. With their
Russian names and quick fire appearances one can lose sight of some of the
subplots. There is a beheading by a tram, a tongue pulled out by the
devil's cat, and a throat cut by a demon, all realistically performed.
However, the members of the company are superb with their portrayal of buses
and trams, rush hour crowds, crazy ghouls, magicians, flying witches and much more.
The special effects in the pyrotechnic and lighting departments created by Alison Chitty are spot on, as are Peter Mumford's sound effects.
This is a complicated story. Kemp has tried to create a switch back tone
from comic to serious, high camp to high tragedy, light to dark, love to
hate. It works well in Act One, but in the end, Act Two struggles to find an
appropriate way to draw the story to a close. After three hours it was
difficult to maintain the high level of concentration needed to follow, and
at times to hear, the many nuances offered by this thought provoking play. © JMB
“The Master and Margarita” is in repertoire at Chichester from the 23rd of July until the 24th of September, 2004.
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