The works of Maxim Gorky are currently enjoying an upturn in popularity
at the moment. The National Theatre is about to stage a major new production
of his early play Philistines, but first up we have a staging of his
engaging social drama, The Lower Depths at Earls Court’s intimate
Finborough Theatre.
The play is presented in a new version, written and directed by Phil
Willmott. His adaptation is supremely easy to engage with, packed as it is
with black humour and amusing, if occasionally rather incongruous, earthy
language.
Written in 1902, The Lower Depths is set in a provincial Russian
doss-house inhabited by those on the lowest rungs of the social ladder:
alcoholics, gamblers, prostitutes. Oh, and actors. Or at least one former
actor, but his life, like the other characters, has been blighted by debt,
drink and the crushing weight of poverty.
The play begins with the death of
a young woman, who, after a life of hardship and want, has finally lost the
will to fight anymore – this sets the tone for what follows, the plight of
the characters feels horribly, inescapably, hopeless, and any occasional
glimpses of revolutionary fervor are usually swiftly stamped out.
The dosshouse is presided over by Olga, the sharp-tongued and
hard-hearted landlady and her unseen but violent husband. Even the
landlady’s sister, Natasha, is not spared his wrath – she is often beaten
and forced to do all the work in this miserable place.
A little light is shone into these characters’ lives by the arrival of a wise old vagrant
whose tales offer them hope, something to cling on to, albeit only for a
short while. But his stories are ultimately only stories, not enough to
solve these people’s problems. Even Natasha’s tentative relationship with a
charismatic thief called Vassily seems doomed.
The intimate Finborough space has also been made to feel suitably murky
and smoky, and Wilmott’s large ensemble cast acquit themselves well. There
are strong performances all round, particularly from Olivia McDonald as the
hard-eyed Olga and Richard Gofton as the elderly but enigmatic traveler,
Luka. Andrew Colley is also memorable as a drifter who insists he is really
a Baron and was once served coffee and cream in bed each morning; as is
Ursula Mohan as a cackling widow – a mother figure of sorts to this odd
group.
Despite its bleak premise this is a compelling production. Though his
overuse of contemporary cuss-words can grate, Willmott has successfully
brought out the play’s still-relevant message about the effects of extreme
poverty on the human spirit to create an interesting and gripping piece of
theatre.
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