‘The Stage’ review – Honour Bayes

Picasso’s Artful Occupation

Published Thursday 13 March 2014 at 14:05 by Honour Bayes

After impressing with his autobiographical testament to British socialism, The Tailor’s Last Stand, last year, Ian Buckley has moved into a more fictional imagining of the fight against fascism. Picasso’s Artful Occupation is based on real events - documenting a day when the artist had to catalogue his collection with Nazi soldiers in occupied Paris - but it does not give any real insight into what it might have been like. Neither is Buckley able to use the encounter to frame a wider historical discussion around the socialist struggle during the Second World War.

Kenneth Michaels’ faltering production feels under-baked. The cast does not appear to be listening or responding to each other, instead operating at preconceived intensities of performance with jarring results. A sensible decision not to affect accents is soon undermined by this fractured style, and it is hard to pin these interactions into a time or place, or associate any of these people with their real-life counterparts.

Gary Heron is unable to portray the charm that made Picasso a great lothario or the artistic empathy that made him a great artist. Roberto Landi’s “sensitive” officer Willi Frisch and David O’Connor’s “bullish” officer Franz Hebbel both feel frustratingly two-dimensional.

Production information

Baron's Court Theatre, London, March 11-30

Author:

Ian Buckley

Director:

Kenneth Michaels

Producer:

RedNeedle Productions

Cast:

Gary Heron, Roberto Landi, David O'Connor

Running time:

1hr 30mins

Production information displayed was believed correct at time of review. Information may change over the run of the show.

Search Amazon for Picasso's Artful Occupation items Search for tickets at Ticketmaster