Aristides de Sousa Mendes is an under-celebrated war hero. Unheard of in this country and unfairly neglected in his own, he was the Portuguese consul working in Bordeaux during the Second World War.
He disobeyed the orders of his own government and, by granting visas, saved around 30,000 people - many of them Jews - who were seeking to escape occupied France. As a result, he fell from grace within Portugal and ended up dying a pauper, un-recognised for the role he had played in saving thousands from an almost certain death.
Does Alice de Sousa’s play work as a celebration of Aristides’ life’s work? Undeniably, yes. Does it work as theatre? Unfortunately, not.
It is well performed by an impressively large (by fringe standards) cast of 13, with some of the actors doubling up on parts, and is also pretty effectively staged on the playhouse’s wide and shallow stage, with the audience on three sides.
The problem is that - as with many plays dealing with the Second World War - there is always a nagging feeling that the real drama is happening somewhere else. This is exacerbated by the fact that much of the drama of Aristides’ own life is also taking place off stage.
We are only shown glimpses of his extra-marital affair with a French singer. Meanwhile his (I’m guessing) agonising decision to break ranks with his own government, which surely should have been the centre-piece of the action, happens in the interval. We only know about it - and other pivotal events in the story - thanks to expositional dialogue and the frequent interruptions of a narrator.
Which is a shame, because there’s a good story to be had in here somewhere. But maybe as a novel, rather than play.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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