Hitting a Brick Wall

Brook's overdue return – it has been over a decade and this is regarded as his final spin in the director's chair – proves that the Wall can be as subtle as any painted backdrop. Lit with dark blue, it becomes an African night: left to shine, it evokes the day's shimmering heat. Philippe Viallatte's lighting brings mortar to life, effectively adding an extra cast member.

Unfortunately, this script needs all the help it can get. Recently, I have been noticing skilled direction: Sam Rowe for One Night Stand, David MacLennan for Battery Farm. It's usually rescuing a weak script. That Brook's eloquent direction is so evident in 11 and 12 sadly follows the trend.

The story is so slight – an argument over the correct number of recitations of a prayer vaguely upsets the French colonial power. This leads to scenes of Sufi wise men being tolerant and counter-cultural, a couple of "Jesus meets Pilate" style court scenes and the death in exile of the two heroes. The lavish visual set-pieces are rich; the liberal message, the lineal narrative are gentle to the point of twee.

Brook's message that it is better to walk away than fight, and that it is these bloody bigots that start it in the first place, especially when tied to the unholy alliance of religion and government. Deliberately presenting this message through a technique of multicultural storytelling does match form to content: simultaneously, it lacks impact. The epilogue adds little, as do the straight tellings of Sufi myths and biographical detail.

Behind this, Brook's set pieces are majestic: the simple set, the postures of the actors calculated to please the eye. Sadly, the ear and the brain aren't so kindly treated.