Minka - Kirsty Bushell
Herod - Shaun Dingwall
Grosch - Paul Hickey
Factor Owner - Jeremy Swift
Alex - Deka Walmsey
Marlies - Jodie Whittaker
Minik - Danny Worters
Directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins
A rehearsed reading as part of the Off The Wall season of new plays about Germany at the Royal Court and for the sake of the detail, the native title is Mit Dem Gurkenflieger in Die Sudsee
A searing parable of survival and necessity in a cucumber factory farm in southern Germany, as Polish workers come to the West in search of work.
I feel this might have been more enjoyable if more people had turned up to see it. A block of seats in the middle had been held back for the house and were unused so there was a gaping hole that my best efforts couldn't fill.
A very lovely cast put everything into this but it didn't have the brio and pace that I had hoped for. I am always impressed when Kirsty Bushell does a reading and am ashamed that I don't pay more attention to where I might see her in a full production. Danny Worters is coming along nicely now and deserves another crack at a big job. I am destined to effortlessly follow Jodie Whittaker around with no motive other than it always seems to turn out that way. There are several small additional roles which were filled by anyone who seemed to want to step up to the plate, regardless of gender. A wonderful team but the piece didn't set me on fire.
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