Humour is not the characteristic one most readily associates with the stage works of David Hare. Yet in this delightful 55-minute meditation, written to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the toppling of the Berlin Wall, Hare muses wittily, as well as trenchantly, on the German capital and his long-held admiration for it.
Directed by Stephen Daldry, Hare reads the piece himself, walking about on a small platform on an otherwise bare stage. There’s none of the awkwardness that marked Via Dolorosa, his previous foray into this genre, but a pleasant confidence in his words, which only occasionally tip over into the self-congratulatory.
Hare elegantly combines an amusing account of the travails of writing the screenplay for The Reader with insightful slices of analysis of the city that is "taking a holiday from history".
Berlin, in rep until 20 March (020 7452 3000, www.nationaltheatre.org.uk)
Berlin
National Theatre: Lyttelton
South Bank, SE1 9PX
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