The True Life Fiction of Mata Hari

Synopsis

It is 1917. World War One has taken its toll on gay Paris, everyone is struggling, not least the notorious and acclaimed dancer, Mata Hari, arrested for espionage. Proclaiming her love for France, her interrogators are convinced that everything she says and does is a lethal fiction. For years Mata Hari has been see as a femme fatale and dangerous spy. But whose 'truth' of this remarkable woman does the world believe? The True Life Fiction of Mata Hari draws us into her world of fantasy and story. Why is everything about her not quite what it seems? What really lies beneath her many masks?

Our Review:

14 March 2002

History has judged Mata Hari harshly as the archetypal treacherous femme fatale. In The True Life Fiction of Mata Hari, playwright Diane Samuels presents us with a woman condemned in a man's world, facing hostility as much because there's no legitimate place for her in it as because of her actions.

Mata Hari's exotic name is part of her legend, but she was born Margarethe Zelle in Holland in 1876. Her exotic 'Hindu' dances inspired the more memorable moniker, and she had indeed lived in the Dutch West Indies, during her disastrous marriage to a Scot 20 years her senior.

The dancer Mata Hari joined the demi-monde of Paris and Berlin. She danced in public and private - and in the semi-nude, with metal breast plates. When the First World War began, she was in Berlin, mistress of a German nobleman. And she was approached by both the Germans and the French to supply information. In February 1917, she was arrested in Paris and accused of spying for Germany. Thi...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 20 March 2002:

The True Life Fiction of Mata Hari meanders through 2 hours, focusing on her interrogation before her death in front of a firing squad. While you do not exactly learn much about Mata Hari herself, the play does manage to engender an interest in its subject, largely thanks to the presence of Greta Scaatchi in the title role, and Jonathan Oliver as her interrogator, Captain Bouchardon. The play is let down by the effete playing of the soldier, Simon Grieff and the bizarre introduction of a foul mouthed nun, who, while being very funny, tips the play off balance. Verdict ? Of interest, but not a must!! ...

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