Old Wicked Songs

The program tells us that Old Wicked Songs was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama in 1996, the winner of the New York Drama League and L.A. Drama League Awards and was included in Otis Guernsey’s Best Plays of 1996-97.

The Williamstown set by David Dare is a beautifully detailed realisation of the music studio of Professor Josef Mashkan. Clever changes in angles and levels adds an interesting and workable dimension to the small stage. On the upper level is a grand piano, stacked with sheet music, with a backdrop of panelled windows overlooking onto the skyline of Vienna and nearby buildings. On a lower level, the studio door opens onto a lit hallway, a space often overlooked by theatre companies, a doorway through to an unseen kitchen area, and all skillfully finished off with a built-in ceiling completed by decorative wooden frieze panels and centre light. The set is furnished with couch, coffee table, busts of composers, flyers for operas, bookcase, music stand, piles of books and a grandfather clock to recreate a rehearsal studio.

Apart from what to me was a rather harsh red spot on the Professor in his moments of silent reflection, but which is, after all, a director’s prerogative, the lighting design by Stelios Karagiannis was spot on in showing the changing times of day and is efficiently handled by Ben Murchie.

From the perfectly positioned piano comes the beautifully produced sound of Schumann’s music, a feat by sound operator Ness Harwood which deserves the highest praise. Adding to the finesse of this production was the sound design and musical direction, another role taken on by David Dare.

When a reviewer starts by praising the set and congratulating the technical crew, it is usually an indication that the play and the performances do not measure up. Not so in this case – Old Wicked Songs is one of the finest all-round productions I have seen for some time.

The play is both musical and political in nature and takes place in Vienna in 1986 during the period when ex-Nazi Kurt Waldheim is running for President. At the centre of the story is Professor Josef Mashkan, an elderly Austrian teacher of piano accompaniment, and his developing relationship with his reluctant and arrogant American student Stephen Hoffman over a period of roughly three months. Hoffman has been a child prodigy concert pianist and comes to Vienna to be retrained as an accompanist for classical singers. He is dismayed to find he has been assigned to Professor Mashkan to study voice where he is forced to perform lieder songs. From the Professor‘s point of view, the only way to learn to accompany a singer is to gain knowledge of the conflicting emotions of Schumann’s tragic Romance songs. Although he declares himself a Protestant, Hoffman is in fact, a Jew. After a visit to Dachau, Hoffman returns an even more angry young man. Disillusioned at the sanitisation of the former concentration camp, he takes out his anger on his tutor, but the Professor has his own private demons.

The story is handled meticulously by director Chris Baldock. He focuses on the power of the script and balances the drama with moments of humour and poignancy. His direction and control is evident throughout and no detail is overlooked.

The performances of the two actors are exceptional. As the brash Stephen Hoffman, Tim Constantine handles the gradual respect for his tutor with skill, and his dramatic ability after his visit to the concentration camp is excellent. In his characterisation of Professor Mashkan, Ellis Ebell gives a faultless performance. His body language, intonation and depth of characterisation are outstanding. Both actors handle their respective accents as if native-born and work perfectly together to convince the audience that they are their characters.

For me, this is a production that works on all levels. If it is at all possible to get a seat I would urge any theatre lover to see Old Wicked Songs. Congratulations Williamstown for a very rewarding night of theatre. JC