PLAY REVIEW: Who is Claude Cahun? ★★★★

Who Is Claude Cahun?, currently on at the Southwark Playhouse Borough until 12 July, is a brilliant new biopic play that examines the life of the titular artist. Active from the early 1900s until their death, their legacy is not as widely known as it should be, especially in today's political climate where non-violent protest through art is more important than ever.

Blending Cahun's surrealist art performances and self-portraiture collages with the narrative of their life, while mostly focussing on their guerilla activism during the Nazi occupation of Jersey in the 1940s, this show is a gorgeous production. Utilising animated projections, recreated costumes, movement and poetry, the play is entrancing, transporting the audience into Claude's world effortlessly.

From their exploration and struggles with their gender-queerness, their relationship with equally gender-queer artist Marcel Moore in a time that did not look kindly on non-heteronormative lifestyles, to their self-appointed mission of resistance art against the Nazis, it's a window into an extraordinary life a century ago, and yet urgently timely today.

The small-scale production utilises its five-strong cast very well, though some of the multi-role work is a little distracting at times, flowing through surrealist drama and experimental art to almost documentarian scenes, incorporating dynamic and humorous scenes where appropriate. The pacing of the story is absolutely impeccable, whetting the audience's interest slowly at first, increasing the tension and impact as the narrative develops.

An absolute highlight is the incorporation of French and German into the production, with spot-on pronunciation and effortless blending into the plot that brings us closer to the action, enveloping the audience in the story and environment. Fusing Cahun's self-portraits, articles, and collages into the show, it's a tremendous feat of biopic theatre. Sizzlingly relevant and urgent, Who Is Claude Cahun? is one of the most compelling pieces of theatre currently staged in London!