Yesterday I donned my critic hat once again for The Moth at Finborough Theatre. Set in an intimate, upstairs space, Paul Herzberg’s play follows the chance meeting of John (Faz Singateh), a Black British journalist, and Marius (Micky Cochrane), a White South African ex-soldier, and how their relationship changes over the course of thirty years. While the discussion is framed around South African apartheid, Herzberg’s show touches on timely themes such as racism, forgiveness and trauma. Although the central concept is an interesting one, the play fails to add anything new to the current discourse, with its multiple monologues feeling more like a history lecture at times than an engaging piece of theatre.
The South African apartheid is not a particular expertise of mine, which is what drew me to the production. Although it certainly would have been helpful to arrive with prior knowledge, the production focuses on the effects of such divisions through the stories of the characters. The production hinges on the meeting and developing relationship of John and Marius but it takes far too long for them to interact. At first, we get a series of monologues, which at times feel like lectures. They recount their experiences of the army, racism and trauma – all important themes, but veering towards issue-led storytelling rather than character-led storytelling. Both performers are capable of grappling with these dense monologues, although some choices and gestures feel over-egged, and moments of sudden shouting result in a series of unexpected jump scares that could rival a horror flick.
While the play does get more interesting when the two characters begin to interact, the continuing monologues, and over-exposition cause the narrative thread to fray, and repeat back on itself, making the show difficult to follow. I also can’t help but feel that we are treading familiar ground. Marius is traumatised by his father and time in the army, and felt compelled to enforce a racist regime as it was his job. John struggles with the effects of the regime, and questions Marius about how he could have morally enforced it. There are times where it just feels like a stalemate. The titular moth is mentioned in two separate stories. At relevant or poignant moments in the characters’ lives, they get distracted by the buzzing of a moth. I am not sure that this justifies the title of the piece, or whether it tells incoming audience members anything about it. At least in Silence of the Lambs the moths formed a key plot point.
Amelia Mitchell’s set does well to serve the purpose of the story, more functionally than creatively, although it does not change enough to communicate the passing of time or space, leading to narrative confusion. A screen behind with images, designed by Amelia Mitchell and Paul C Clark, add extra context to the current and historical scenes. The inclusion of archive footage does well to provide historical background, but also add to the lecture-ish feel as they are shown on a large screen. Perhaps projections might have been a more creative choice, bathing the characters in images of the past.
Although its aims are admirable, the show’s execution does not do them, or a piece of theatre itself, justice.
2/5
Thanks for reading!
Playing at Finborough Theatre until 21st November!
Tickets available here: https://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/productions/the-moth
Photography by Victoria Wai
