Four actors put a famous novel on stage

Now the American Drama Group presents the audience an adoption for stage in the theatre of Hof. So at 8.00 p.m., all seats are taken and suddenly a siren is heard. We are sent into a future world and into the life of Guy Montag, one of these firemen. We get an impression of his everyday life: how he traces dangerous intellectuals in order to burn their books, we meet his wife Mildred (Debbie Leigh-Simmons) and see how he acts with his superior Beatty (Michael Wagg). Glyn Connop, who plays the leading role of Montag very souvereignly and acts as the fixed point of the whole drama guides us through a perfect future: no dangers, no fear and well… no opinion. His wife only yearns for the next big TV screen (how could she otherwise watch the Comedy Program properly?) and is the perfect example of an ordinary citizen who is dominated by a TV program which mixes soap operas and violent comedy with nationalism and war fever.
But one day Guy Montag meets a very different young girl, Clarisse (Anna Tolputt). This fascinating young woman tells the proud fireman that she enjoys just being in nature and that in the past people read books instead of burning them. She evokes a lot of questions in his mind, which engage him a lot. A few days later Montag discovers that his new friend has been killed by a speeding car. This incident deeply disturbs his world, together with an operation where a traced old woman chooses to be burned together with her books, and Montag begins to ask himself whether the world moves into the right direction.
Together with the retired professor Faber (Michael Wagg as well), they work out a plan full of risks to overthrow the status quo. They want to destroy the machinery of censorship and plant rescued books in the homes of firemen. Soon Montag’s boss Beatty discovers their plan, after Montag’s own wife has betrayed him, and forces Montag to burn all his gathered books. But Montag puts the flamethrower on his boss and eventually escapes. As he is now traced by the whole city and the famous “mechanical hound”, Montag decides to jump into the river and emerges from it outside the city. Here he meets an intellectual enclave, “the Book People” who have chosen the exile instead of equality. The group watch how their home town is destroyed by foreign jets. Their country has started a war with another one and now pays the price. Eventually Montag and his new friends move on to search for survivors and rebuild civilization.
Director Paul Stebbing has created a production which impresses by its pure simplicity. There are only four actors on stage who have to play the main characters as well as other figures in the drama. Besides this organisational achievement, the actors shine with a souvereign performance. As the Amercian Drama Group give performances all over Europe, the stage set is spartan and there are only a few props. And those which can be found on stage must act as tables and as cars, for example. All scene changes are only done by lighting. But this doesn’t imply anything negative. On the contrary, this evokes a very puristic and futuristic impression of the presented world which is additionally supported by Paul Flush’s electronical and sensitive music.
To sum up, it was a very fascinating but also frightening evening. An extremely well created drama shows us how history might continue. Ray Bradbury’s dystopia has lost nothing since its release about 50 years ago. The presentation of the Amercian Drama Group is maybe one of the closest. Only four actors, and nothing more, let us dive into a future world and teach us which mistakes should not be made.

Maximilian Hocke, K13