This fly-on-the-wall depiction of a true story leaves you wanting to know more

Farm Hall, written by Katherine Moar, centres on the story of six of Germany’s top nuclear scientists, who are detained by the Allied forces at Farm Hall, after Hitler is dead, but war continues in the Pacific. Unknown to the scientists, during their time at Farm Hall, the building was bugged and their every action recorded. This play is inspired by the true events that took place at Farm Hall between July 1945 and January 1946. Directed by Stephen Unwin, this production felt intimate and special. It gave the feeling of being a fly on the wall in a very private gathering. The mismatched, almost patchwork, wallpaper was gorgeous and added to this feeling, also reflecting the mismatched mix of the physicists living in the house. The costumes are reflective of the period, and are used well by the cast – they are clearly comfortable additions to their characters, allowing them to move in ways that reflect their positions and personalities.

The slice-of-life journey these people go on is peppered with incredibly realistic moments like being bored, and the slow movement of life with people you may not know very well. The audience watches them discover their issues with each other, and their constant bemusement of why they’re even in this situation anyway. The impressive cast move all the props and set up the scenes themselves – they do this all entirely in character and so it feels like the passage of time, almost as though somebody’s hit the fast forward button.

There was very little change in the staging, as it is all set in the same room of the Hall. One important addition is the broken piano, which they spend longer talking about getting, then fixing, than enjoying because it becomes boring quickly. The lighting also rarely changed but, notably, made the Hall feel homely with the warm, yellowed, glow from the lights. The only change was a dramatic one, and it was done beautifully. During their stay at Farm Hall the physicists hear the news of the USA successfully building atomic bombs and one being dropped on Japan. When the bomb is dropped, there is an explosion sound effect, and the lights change. They lose the yellow, and shift to a clean white. This gives the feeling of all the colour draining from the world, and everything sharpens slightly, as if something fundamental has changed. This is the trigger point of the interval.

The interval gap is utilised cleverly, as when the show resumes it is from that exact point of revelation. The cast resume their positions as if nothing has happened, and the lighting effect is used in reverse. The soft colour seeps back into the world, and, as if recovering from a trance, everybody needs the information repeated because they cannot believe what they’ve just heard. They listen to a radio broadcast about the atomic bomb drop. The lead up to this is fascinating because they’re all standing around and waiting; pacing, watch-checking, and demanding that the volume is turned up as soon as it starts.

We learn about how Hitler had set the physicists against each other, rather than encouraging them to work together, in a failed attempt to further their successes. With this came a big debate; how did the Americans build the atomic bomb before they did and was the German failure down to intended sabotage by Heisenberg? Lots of the characters struggle with this, and these discussions feel genuine, fraught with judgement and emotion.

The show finishes with the physicists leaving Farm Hall. Having joked early on about how the British aren’t advanced enough to have bugged the Hall, it is, perhaps, a revelation that Heisenberg walks back in and speaks aloud to the Hall, addressing the audience, saying that he hopes they are still listening. He expresses his gratitude for being given a place to regroup and get away from the stress. He had spent enough time there to have cleared his head and designed an atomic bomb. The suggestion that their are listening devices in the house, makes the audience feel like they are the listeners, that they have given Heisenberg the space and time to clear his head. It is, after all, only once he has completed his work that they are allowed to leave.