Who Else Then

The Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler is best known for his 1897 play Reigen, filmed in 1950 as La Ronde, and was The Tenelephants…

The Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler is best known for his 1897 play Reigen, filmed in 1950 as La Ronde, and was The Tenelephants company are staging an adaptation by Rossella Peretto, who also directs, of Schnitzler's novella Fraulein Else under a title that seems to me an appalling pun. The play retains the sense of a novella, slight and evanescent, more a creation of mood than of overt drama. Else is a young woman, here played by three actresses whose function is to explore her several dimensions. She is on holiday, and receives a letter from her mother, asking her to solicit a loan from a wealthy friend. The elderly man is not averse to obliging her, for a price. He does not seek sex, but to have his lechery accommodated by a private view of her naked body.

Her sense of multiple exploitation leads to tragedy. The three Elses (Ambra Bergamasco, Michelle Nic Chon Uladh and Rosselle Healy) are trained dancers, and move around each other with grace and contrast. Paul Clancy's man is suitably suave and sinister, and Armelle du Roscoat plays an older woman whose role is rather opaque. Then there are the words, the weakest element in the play and a superficial exposition of characters and situation. The production holds the interest, but leaves a sense of stretching its material to the limit.

Runs until Sat; bookings on 1850-260027