Roland Schimmelpfennig, one of Germany’s most prolific playwrights, wrote Winter Solstice in 2013 in response to the resurgence of the far-right in some European countries and the backlash against the liberal elite. Ramin Gray’s production, a joint production between Actors Touring Company and the Orange Tree Theatre, is its English premiere.
What with Brexit and the presidency of Donald Trump, the staging could not be more topical. Fascism is on the rise and Western middle class democracy is in danger.
A grandmother invites a man (Nicholas Le Prevost) she has just met on a train to spend Christmas with her family. The more he talks about a new world order lasting a thousand years, and the more he argues that sometimes people have to be killed if it serves a higher cause, the more unnerving he becomes.
The appeal of Schimmelpfennig is the idiosyncratic way he writes and the clever way the play is staged. The actors are discovered sitting at trestle tables as if they were attending the very first read through. There is a constant commentary on the action. The stage directions are read out. The sub-text is spoken. The pleasure is watching the accomplished actors’ witty reactions.