Battlefield, theatre review: Ancient tale lost in translation

In 1985 director Peter Brook staged his legendary production of The Mahabharata, a nine-hour, three-part retelling of the ancient Sanskrit epic about warring families. It was an era-defining piece of theatre — and like all era-defining pieces of theatre it should never have been revisited but left to shine brightly in the collective memory. Battlefield, a brief and opaque epilogue to the bloody conflicts of the previous work, directed by Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne, can only and does only disappoint.

For those of us unfortunate enough not to have seen The Mahabharata, no concessions are made. Thus a succession of unknown and sadly unknowable characters takes to the stage, portrayed by the four-strong cast who declaim absently in the manner of those reciting a distant epic poem. There’s much gnomic dialogue (“The other war, where will it take place? In the battlefield or in my heart?” “I don’t see a difference.”). Dissection of the aftermath of battle is interspersed with a succession of wafty, animal-centred fables.

At one point in this long 70 minutes the five audience members to my right and the two to my left were all asleep. We have nothing invested in this set-up — and with that we can hope for few rewards.

Until February 27, Young Vic (020 7922 2922, youngvic.org)

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout