Written originally for Drama, a Stage 2 subject, during 2005.

Drums In The Night Review

How can a local theatre company recreate a classic German play that is over 70 years old? This was the thought that was running through my head the entire time while waiting for the play to start. The answer to my question came soon enough…

Drums In The Night tells the story of an upper-class German family during World War I; focusing in on the daughter of the family, Anna. Anna is pining over her husband, Andreas, who was lost in the war more than three years ago. Her parents wish for her to re-marry, and arrange a marriage with local loudmouth, gadabout Friedrich; which Anna reluctantly agrees to. On top of all this – Andreas suddenly re-appears; right at the peak of a riot that could destroy them all.

In a Brechtian play, the themes are always there in the foreground, there for, even, the most visceral audience member to acknowledge. It’s as if Brecht’s own, personal voice is more predominant than that of the play’s characters. Yes, we may hear Andreas speak of the horrors and pointlessness of war, but, really, we’re hearing Brecht exclaim his opposition to the meaningless loss of a human being’s life. The playwright served as a medic in the first World War, and that experience obviously influenced him deeply. Also, Karl Marx’s system of thought inspired Brecht too; it is easy to see how Marx’ idea of how class struggle should have a key position in leading society to a socialist way of life, in opposition of capitalism – this is the main theme of Drums In The Night. I think the play’s portrayal of the lower-end of the social ladder, the people in the slums fighting against the system that is holding them back, will really strike a chord with Australians; we, naturally, sympathize and identify ourselves the “underdogs” – this should heighten the average theatre-goers enjoyment of the play.

Originally written in 1922, this play was written at the same time that cabaret was born, and quite a lot of cabaret theatre is derived from Brecht, directly. And, while Drums In The Night wasn’t originally performed in a dining environment; it still had musical numbers, a famous trait of cabaret performances. Brecht wrote songs exclusively for his plays, and this one is no different – with two songs being including in the script. The songs are, easily, the highlight of the play; but the dialogue is simply brilliant too. The script is extremely rich with fabulous dialogue, with lines such as “he licked you with his eyes” – the brilliance in the script is the key to the play’s success; it is why the play is still popular after all these year. While the play’s themes may be timeless; if it were written by someone else, I doubt the outcome would have been as triumphant. Finegan Kruckemeyer’s re-write has hardly changed anything; Brecht is still the sole writer of this play, in my eyes.

This production of the play was performed in a cabaret environment; four to each table. Although Brecht was a big fan of cabaret, he never intended for Drums In The Night to be performed in this style of theatre. He always envisioned the play to be performed in a playhouse – so, it is obvious that Chris Drummond wanted to include the audience more; maybe it’s an attempt to contrast the alienated characters with the not-so-alienated audience. This also fits in with the fact that a main characteristic of a Brecht play is that the audience is aware that they’re watching a play, not reality – by having the actors walk by us, we are reminded that we are watching a work of fiction. Sadly though, the cabaret aspect of the production is simply, just, not enough – so much could have been done with this concept, but it was poorly underused. The audience’s space is hardly used at all; it is most memorably used in the beginning of the play, with the “narrator” character of Babusch taking us back to the time-period of the ‘20’s. Also, the seating arrangement really doesn’t suit the needs of the actors; they are too often forced to squeeze between tables and chairs.

Director Chris Drummond once said in an interview, in reference to what draws him in when it comes to theatre, that he wants it acknowledged that he is “present there”, he wants the production crew to know that he is a human being – he knows what an emotion feels like, he knows what life is like. But, this approach to theatre is non-apparent in his direction of Drums In The Night; the distancing techniques used by Brecht in the script make it too hard for Drummond to get us “acknowledged” as a human being – with this play, we are just audience members; cabaret seating or not. His blocking wasn’t of a conventional nature; with actors often elevated on either side of the stage, with one character in the middle of the stage – this was a great tool that gave those scenes an, almost, “good vs. evil” conscience feel. Drummond seemed to have a clear vision of the play, with tempo harmoniously kept between the acting, music & lighting.

All actors did a fine job of their roles, all of them fitting the right criteria that was needed for proper execution of this Brechtian play. A stand-out performance comes from Rory Walker as Andreas – he distances himself from everything, with every fiber of his body; many times throughout the play, his eyes are glazed over – he plays his character as if he’s a thousand miles inside himself.

The set design was minimalistic, with not many props on stage at all – which makes us appreciate the moments of “big” set movement. At one point during the play, the backdrop literally comes falling forward; causing a gust of wind that blows loose bits of paper al around the theatre – never before have I seen or even heard of such a thing being attempted in theatre, especially cabaret. The lighting was used brilliantly; it’s as if the lighting held more emotional value than that of the actual characters; with them adding warmness to every scene. The most spectacular lighting sequence comes when Michaela Cantwell sings an upbeat jazz song with other cast member singing & dancing behind her – the lighting matches the beat of the music beautifully, and the way the light hits the backdrop is very reminiscent of scenes from Baz Luhrmann’s film Moulin Rouge!

This play is filled with ups and downs, but, none-the-less is a very entertaining and eye-opening piece of theatre. There was a very strong applause at the end, which lasted for a solid minute. A great introduction to the style and works of Bertolt Brecht.