A surreal mix of real historical events and fantasy with inventive staging sums up Man to Man at the Wales Millennium Centre.
This English adaptation of a German play tells an intriguing story about a woman who takes on her husband’s identity when he dies in order to keep his job.
Actress Margaret Ann Bain is the sole star of the piece, delivering a stream of consciousness in a hour-long piece where she retells her life from the Second World War to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Her performance was flawness - she was the only actress but convincingly portrayed interaction with other characters, her body highlighting every word in the tale.
As the piece progressed, the set took a life of its own in four dimensions - with trap doors and different levels leaving you wondering where the main character was going to end up next.
Ella impresses how hiding leaves her a lonely figure. It’s a a very dense piece of theatre, using a mixture of rhyme and fragments of song.
This is sadly where the play occasionally comes unstuck. I must admit that in places I lost the narrative and it wasn’t always clear, from one moment to the next, what part of the story we were being presented.
It was a shame, given how impressive the set design and what an energetic performer Margaret Ann Bain is, bringing Ella’s imagination to life.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here