Beginning in Soviet-controlled Estonia at the very beginning of 1978, Sergey (Theo Walker) is a private nearing the end of his national service, Roman (Robert Eades) is a pilot and Luisa (Sorcha Kennedy) the Estonian secretary to their colonel. The three are close friends, but there isn't much suggestion of a romance between Luisa and either of the men.
This is of course because the romance is elsewhere; when Sergey is spotted sneaking out of Roman's room in the early hours of the morning, it's reported only because he's a private and Roman a lieutenant, so he's been in the officers' quarters illegally. But Colonel Kuznetsov (Nigel Hastings) suspects something's going on that could get them into a lot more trouble, and warns them off. When Roman's plane crashes and it's suspected that he was distracted by Sergey navigating him from the ground, the latter is given an early dismissal and the pair separated.
They meet again in Moscow where Sergey is training to be an actor, and briefly move in together, but the revelation that Roman has secretly married Luisa further complicates their relationship. I'd like to say that my listing of the basic events above is drier than the way they're presented in the play itself, but this weirdly flat attempt at a tragic romance keeps us firmly at arm's length throughout. We learn very little about the central couple's backgrounds beyond the fact that one of them grew up on a farm, but much more critically we learn just as little about who they are now, or who they are with each other.
So we largely have to take their word for it when they declare their love for each other, as there's been precious little chemistry up to that point. If the script is based on the screenplay I assume the film makes a lot of use of close-ups and longing looks, but even in a small theatre you need a bit more than that to suggest the same thing on stage, and Owen Lewis' production seems determined to turn away as soon as there's the slightest hint of building this relationship as anything other than a friendship: A couple of brief kisses are the only physical intimacy we see; I'm not saying we need to see it go in, but at least a suggestion that they want to put it somewhere would be helpful. (Did the pair ever actually have sex? The play downright avoids the subject.)
In fact the only moment of real sexual charge is played for laughs, when Roman takes his shirt off and, presented with Eades' impressive tits, Sergey gabbles "you're not wearing a... watch!" The actors are similarly denied any opportunity to suggest an emotional relationship, most notably when they move in together. This would seem a perfect opportunity to show them stealing some moments of happines as partners, but Hough skips that and immediately has Luisa turn up in her role as Roman's new wife, meaning Sergey moves out within moments of us seeing him move in.
The supporting characters actually fare a bit better, with Kennedy getting some emotional scenes as she realises how she's been used as a distraction by her best friends (assuming that's what happened - again just why Roman married Luisa never comes up.) Hastings does even better with the character who should be the most enigmatic - just how he figured out what was going on, and why he warned the younger men against being caught rather than reporting them himself, all hints at secrets in his own past that are all but confirmed later in the play.
But this is meant to be the story of Roman and Sergei, and the play is too busy ticking off the events of their lives to give the actors a chance to tell us who they actually are, or why their relationship matters; one major development late on may be inevitable, but is still presented with almost callous efficiency. Similarly, casting two good-looking actors who get their tops off tells us there's meant to be a sexual frisson to the story, but isn't enough to convince us it's there specifically between these two men. Hough and Lewis are far too busy detailing all the obstacles to the relationship's success, to show us why we should care about it succeeding in the first place.
Firebird by Richard Hough, based on the book by Sergey Fetisov and the screenplay by Peeter Rebane & Tom Prior, is booking in repertory until the 9th of February at the King's Head Theatre's 4 Below Space (now at Islington Square, Upper Street, N1 1QN.)
Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes straight through.
Photo credit: Geraint Lewis.
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