Through the Leaves

Synopsis

Through the Leaves is the story of butcher Martha and her lover Otto. Although Martha dotes on Otto, answering to his every want and whim, he offers her nothing but his very presence and sex. Following the fleeting moment when Otto inadvertently shows some affection towards her, and Martha points it out, Otto leaves for good. Not suitable for under 16 years.

Our Review:

29 April 2003

An onstage blowjob; an explicit bout of violent love-making; full frontal male nudity; even intimations of an over-randy dog. You might be forgiven for thinking you'd stumbled accidentally into XXX, the Spanish sex show that's made headlines in London recently and features all of those things (and more).

Actually, it's the West End transfer of German playwright Franz Xaver Kroetz's quietly compelling, slowly devastating one-act drama, Through the Leaves, seen first at the tiny Southwark Playhouse in January 2003 and now moved across the river to the larger, but still intimate, Duchess Theatre.

According to a programme note, Kroetz's plays give voice, paradoxically, to the inarticulate: "the most important 'action' of my characters," he is quoted as saying, "is their silence." And the silences that pass between his two characters here speak volumes about the chasm of barely understood emotions and their inability to translate their feelings i...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (62.255.64.5) - 5 May 2003:

It is nice to see mature actors fighting to get it right in a mature relationship. Excelent acting. ...

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