Directed by Peter Kavanagh, Cyanide at 5 is a gripping revenge drama by award-winning Czechoslovakian novelist and playwright, Pavel Kohout. This is the first time it has been performed in the UK but it has been performed across Europe for years.
The stage is set up as a sitting room with old fashioned furniture. It is home of the elderly Zofia (played by Lise-Ann McLaughlin), a wealthy and successful novelist in Prague’s most fashionable quarter. Zofia we understand to be happily married.
Zofia receives a visitor, a younger jewish lady named Irene (played by Philippa Heimann). We are lead to understand she is a fan of Zofia’s work. She tells Zofia, “I read your book when I was eighteen. I developed a fever. My childhood came to an end at that moment.” We hear she flew into Prague after reading the novel because she recognises many details in the story. I think Zofia tells her a lot her fans identify with the story.
It is clear to us at this stage, as the tensions builds between these two characters, that there is a lot more to this story and why Irene has travelled all the way from Poland to meet with Zofia. We will discover that Zofia has only written one book. Zofia has received several accolades and global recognition for this book as it’s an account of Polish Jews under the Nazi occupation and how they were treated.
Lise-Ann McLaughlin and Philippa Heimann give captivating intense performances throughout this tense thriller that builds up to Irene taking a vial of cyanide from her bag.
Cyanide at 5 plays at King’s Head Theatre until 26 November. Further information and bookings can be found here.
