Memoriam - Review

Southwark Playhouse, London

***

Written by Noga Flaishon

Directed by Daniel Goldman

Beverley Klein

Noga Flaishon’s Memoriam tackles an ambitious conceit. That the memory of the world’s last survivor of the Holocaust can be digitally extracted from their brain and preserved so as to be able to be downloaded by future viewers. This of course is science-fiction - always a challenging genre, even for the best of writers.

Flaishon then muddies her waters somewhat by introducing an exploitative commercial angle to the narrative, setting out the risks to any memory-donor of their own memory being edited to enhance the memory’s profitability. And all of a sudden what could have been a fascinating analysis of a new (albeit fictional) medium for telling the ghastly history of the Holocaust, gets lost in a mini-parable on the evils of capitalism.

Delivering a magnificent performance, Beverley Klein is Rivka, the 92 year-old survivor. Klein embodies the grievous pain that her character has endured, whilst still possessing a formidable energy and rumbustiousness that clearly defines her will to live and her ability indeed, to have survived. 

Rachel Barry plays her granddaughter (Rachel), who conveniently happens to be an accomplished acquirer of memories for the Memoriam Corporation, the ugly rapacious corporate and the baddy of the piece. While the character of Rachel may at times be clumsily created, Barry makes fine work of the script.

Ben Wiggins is Chris, Rachel’s boss and the story’s pantomime villain. Again, and from an acting perspective, Wiggins makes a decent fist of a very two-dimensional character. Ashley Margolis is Rachel’s brother David whose role in the tale amounts to little more than distracting sibling rivalries and squabbling. Completing the quintet is perhaps the most modest but perfectly formed role in the whole play, that of Jimena Larraguivel’s Becky who discovers first-hand how brutal the Memoriam Corporation’s editing process can be.

There is food for thought in this finely performed, but somewhat haphazard tale. 

Runs until 21st November

Photo credit: Charlie Flint