Almost forty years since its first outing at the Royal Court, also starring Tilda Swinton, Man to Man, translated from Manfred Karge’s German text, continues to roar in this anarchic and hugely engrossing revival.
This translated version, written by Anthony Vivis but updated by Stephen Unwin, who also directs, to include more contemporary scenes alongside its predominant focus on Nazi Germany, centres on the remarkable and resilient Ella Gericke (Swinton) and her persistent will to survive amid the wreckage of mid-20th-century Germany.
Original playwright Karge has been likened to Bertolt Brecht in style and theatrical ideology, having trained at the German’s Berliner Ensemble, and those likenesses are evident in this fiercely political production too. Ella is caught up in a country split quite literally, eventually, in half as a result of political ideals, and as a result, as a woman desperate to stay alive, she too ‘splits’, switching between privately being Ella and publicly appearing as Max, her deceased husband whose identity Ella steals to earn a living and escape the confines of her sex during this time. Ella appears vulnerable, in a vest and underwear, splattered with paint and crust in an immediately visceral and unnerving picture of someone desperate and outcast, but with a defiance that illuminates this play across its brief but effective runtime.
Ella’s story of courage and desperation is powerful, and one which Swinton, who originated the role, delivers with full force. It is a captivating solo show, with Swinton holding the audience’s attention in her palms, whether during deliberately chaotic moments, such as chucking ketchup across the stage’s bare walls in a creatively ironic presentation of blood and violence, or the more intimate despair of a woman trapped in a man’s identity, but longing to be a mother. Unwin’s direction of Swinton’s switching from pain to poise is superbly done, and one which showcases Swinton as an actor at the top of her game here, masterfully strutting the stage in a play that clearly means a great deal to her.
It is also, though, a play that contains a sharp wit and humour to it too. Swinton’s comic timing, either in subtle winks and nods or dryly delivered punchlines, moves the piece on in a way that does not use humour to detract from its bleak warnings and experiences. Instead, the piece uses it, alongside some eyebrow-raising props, to satirise contemporary societal ideals, wth Karge’s original, much like his Brecht, utilising humour to reiterate rather than retract its message. This is also incorporated into the set, designed by Bunny Christie, with the launching of numerous plastic balls into the audience a goofy but impactful immersive touch.
Indeed, despite the play’s age, it is a piece that feels exceptionally fresh, and one aided in maintaining its relevance as a result of Unwin’s additions. The horror of Hitler’s rise to power, seen through Ella’s fearful experiences, is captured neatly through radio broadcasts, anecdotes, and projected images, but it is the addition of new sections into the production, which handle the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and the newly rising far right in Germany today, where the piece continues to exclaim a warning that such values and ideologies remain right now. Man to Man builds to a phenomenally stark crescendo, boosted by Matt Powell’s segmented projection design, which conjures a sense of catastrophe around a static, shouting Swinton, reaching a breathless finale.
A play of only 85 minutes, Man to Man feels far more substantial than its brief runtime suggests. While Swinton’s set-destroying, ketchup-shaking and alcohol-swilling portrayal might seem loud, brash and deliberately provocative, it is the devastating depiction of a woman on the brink of survival, and at the fringes of society, which earns this piece its deserving plaudits. A remarkable and memorable performance, and one that retells history while also feeling like a historical moment itself.
