Cincinnatus

Peter Brown. (12Nov16): Set entirely in an unknown prison, in an unnamed country, Cincinnatus is based on the novel 'Invitation to a Beheading' by Russian American author Vladimir Nabokov (1889-1977). The novel was first published in a Russian émigré magazine, which might give you a clue as to the country in which this play may be really set, and certainly some of the character names in this work clearly have Russian connections. The play revolves around a central character called Cincinnatus (played by Garry Voss). When we first meet him, he is being incarcerated in the prison with a lawyer, the prison director and a prison warder in attendance. We are never told what crime Cincinnatus has committed, but he seems to be an inoffensive, ordinary man with little (as far as we can tell from his behaviour that we witness) for the authorities or society in general to be worried about. Nevertheless, he is condemned to death by beheading. But the prison director won't reveal the date of Cincinnatus's execution, which causes considerable distress for the condemned man. He's also plagued by a variety of odd characters – indeed, Cinncinatus seems like the only sane, rational man in his society, at least as far as the characters we meet are concerned. For example, he's introduced to a (supposedly) fellow prisoner called Pierre (Gary Cain) who ignores the rules in a game of chess, reversing his moves at will. And Cincinnatus's mother – who he claims he's never met – turns up but seems peculiarly unmoved by her son's dire predicament. In fact, all the other characters also seem to be totally insensitive to the fact that he's about to lose his life. Moreover, they blame his attitude as being the cause of his misery and demise. It's a bleak and unsettling view of a society where one man becomes singled-out for unwarranted treatment for seemingly doing nothing wrong. Of course, history is no stranger to that situation, and indeed individuals around the world are still condemned to serve time in prison, or even lose their life for 'not fitting in' or simply 'being different'. On that score there's much to commend in Victor Sobchak's production, which has an absurdist quality about it, but makes valid and extremely important points. Garry Voss provides a clearly-defined transition from the quiet, unassuming man who eventually rages in frustration against the situation he finds himself in. And he's ably-supported by a large cast – maybe a little too large at times for the relatively small acting area at the intimate Baron's Court Theatre. But they make good use of the space too – and, of course, confinement is a central issue in the play, so it might not have been possible anyway to perform the play on a much larger stage. It's always rewarding to see interesting work brought to the stage and Vladimir Nabokov's ideas certainly deserve an airing – worth seeing on that count alone.