It is 1942 and Jewish jeweller, Joseph Haffmann, decides that in order to avoid Nazi persecution he will hand over his business to his employee, Pierre. However, Haffmann's artisan has a problem of his own. Pierre and his wife desperately want a child, but he is infertile. Could Haffmann be the solution to his employee's problem, just as Pierre might be to his? The humorous possibilities seem obvious, but the situation is presented quite seriously. Haffmann and Pierre's wife, Isabelle, have some moral qualms about this arrangement, and Pierre's jealousy, when it shows itself, isn't really played for laughs. There is a sense that Farewell Mister Haffmann is uneasily caught between genres. This is neither a farce nor a drama, and it doesn't quite work as black comedy. Perhaps, the situation of Haffmann hiding in the cellar to save his life is just too grave. Similarly, when Pierre becomes acquainted with Otto Abetz, the German "ambassador" to occupied France, and Abetz and his overbearing French wife come to dinner while Haffmann pretends to be Pierre's cousin, Jean, the elements of farce rear their head. But again, the political reality of the situation may make it seem too serious for wholehearted laughter. This sense of the play uncomfortably wavering between genres is not helped in this particular production. The dialogue is rather wooden and clumsy, and the cast often seem to be reading a script which has been overly punctuated. The one exception is Nigel Harman as Abetz who comes across as suavely menacing. Farewell Mister Haffmann comes with great credentials: it is one of France’s most successful and long-running plays; it won four Molière Awards and it has been made into a film. Ultimately however, the dilemma of Haffmann and his inadvertent hosts ends up becoming subsumed in the dilemma of the audience who are unsure how we should react to this unsettling mix of drama and comedy and its somewhat stilted interpretation.
Rated: ★★★
Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Mark Senior
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