THE FLYING LOVERS OF VITEBSK (Wise Children/Bristol Old Vic/Kneehigh Theatre)****

By Emma

Link: https://wisechildren.ticketco.events/uk/en?_ga=2.199443112.724185000.1607024189-131572380.1607024189

Available until: Livestreams on Friday 4^th December at 7pm, Saturday 5^th December at 1.30pm and 7pm, and Friday 11^th December at 7pm. The 11^th December performance also has audio-described and captioned versions of the play. You can also buy a gift card for a friend so they can watch any livestream.

The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk by Daniel Jamieson is about the artist Marc Chagall and his wife, the writer Bella Chagall. The play tells the story of their relationship and their love for one another but it is also about all the terrible world events that go on around them.

It’s a really beautiful play. It is full of colours, music and theatrical effects. I have a had a look at some of Marc Chagnall’s paintings and he used a lot of colour and some of his work had a sort of fantasy effect. I think director Emma Rice has really tried to show that in her production. Sophia Clist’s set is very small, but that means things can easily be moved around, usually by the actors or musicians. The set is full of colour and so are the costumes. It doesn’t say who designed them but Fran Horler is Head of Wardrobe and whoever is responsible for changing the actors’ clothes deserves a medal. There are so many occasions when Bella leaves the stage wearing one costume and is back onstage in something completely different seconds later. It is great because it’s lovely to admire the beautiful clothes and it gives a sense of time passing but the speed is almost magical.

There are lots of special effects in this production. Some of them might seem silly in another production like Marc and Bella putting on a costume so it looked like they were being carried on chairs, but actually the chair is part of the costume and the legs on the chair aren’t really their legs. I don’t really know how to explain it but it’s amazing when you see it. Things like that could look silly but it doesn’t because Marc and Bella do it with such joy and that transmits to the audience and makes us part of the fun. When Marc and Bella are having a good time, we have a good time too.

A lot of the story is quite sad. Not everyone is completely happy when Marc and Bella get married. War is declared, there are all kinds of political problems and they have to deal with illness and death. So some parts of the story really are sad but at the same time the feeling that these two people really love each other is still really strong. It makes such a nice change from all the soaps where the smallest thing goes wrong in someone’s life and they immediately go off and cheat on their partner. Love is a beautiful and special emotion and this is maybe the strongest example of real love I have ever seen on a stage. The way they look at each other and touch each other (the cast and crew are in a bubble so it’s okay) makes me feel so happy.

The characters aren’t perfect. Marc is an artist and he has the artistic temperament. Sometimes he puts himself first when maybe he shouldn’t. But I can’t dislike him, I don’t think he would ever want to hurt anyone and the fact he isn’t perfect makes him seem more real. Bella tries her best to get through to him and she gets frustrated sometimes but she is so loving. They’re the perfect couple in terms of their feelings for each other, but they’re not perfect human beings.

There is a lot of music in this play but I wouldn’t quite say it is a musical. I didn’t really have the sense that the characters were expressing their thoughts in song. It felt more like these very artistic and creative people were singing to each other because that was what they wanted to do. The music is composed by Ian Ross and it is really beautiful and so varied in style. Ian Ross and James Gow are also part of the productions as onstage musicians and it’s not like in most musicals where the musicians are accompanists, they really seemed a part of the play. They interact with the characters and it’s lovely.

The role of Marc is played by Marc Antolin who is playing the role for at least the third time. I think Audrey Brisson is new to the production but they have such a good onstage relationship. There is so much trust between them and they are very comfortable together. I think Marc does well to make the character of Marc so likeable even though he has his artistic moments, he seems more childlike than moody (and he’s also really funny when he puts a veil over his head and takes the role of Bella’s mother). Audrey is lovely too, really sweet and happy though she can do Bella’s serious moments too. They both have really lovely voices and they sound great alone, together and with the musicians.

There are probably better plays than this but probably not that many with this amount of warmth and love.