Danton's Death
| 21 Aug 2007
There is something instantly appealing about a work of art that has been written illicitly. The mystique surrounding Georg B?chner’s 1835 reactionary manuscript about the French Revolution, the censored sexual content, and the fact it was written whilst in hiding, all succeed in grabbing the audience’s attention before the play has even begun. Unfortunately, the play’s appeal effectively ends where the action begins.
Danton, the central figure, undergoes the transformation from hero of the Revolution to another fatality of the Red Terror, as his fellow revolutionaries charge him with treason and orchestrate his death. Morphing from lascivious drunk, to indignant victim to broken man, Danton’s capitulation mirrors that of post-revolutionary France.
The weaknesses of the play lie wholly with the melodramatic acting crew. The amateur nature of the performances comes across through the apparent conviction that the louder you shout, the more emotion you convey. The female leads also appear to be working on the premise that the more you pout, squirm and puff out your chest, the sexier the character becomes. The play attempts to address a time of profligate sex, quotidian violence and raging discontent. It succeeds only in becoming a parody of itself.
Danton, the central figure, undergoes the transformation from hero of the Revolution to another fatality of the Red Terror, as his fellow revolutionaries charge him with treason and orchestrate his death. Morphing from lascivious drunk, to indignant victim to broken man, Danton’s capitulation mirrors that of post-revolutionary France.
The weaknesses of the play lie wholly with the melodramatic acting crew. The amateur nature of the performances comes across through the apparent conviction that the louder you shout, the more emotion you convey. The female leads also appear to be working on the premise that the more you pout, squirm and puff out your chest, the sexier the character becomes. The play attempts to address a time of profligate sex, quotidian violence and raging discontent. It succeeds only in becoming a parody of itself.