Critique on Primo Levi Monodrama

A man appears in a pale, dreadful room. He is as pale as the room, as he reflects on his memory in the Auschwitz. Although there is nothing else than a chair beside him, he seems to be able to see everything he has been through for a year. I should say that the first impression of this work, to me, was not satisfactory at all. I expected a more interactive and energetic way of presenting the reminiscence of an Italian Jewish, of all the pains and tortures carved on his backbone. Empty rooms and sporadic changes in lighting failed to please me visually and actually made me seriously consider the possibility that this one man play was produced under lack of resources.
However, I found soon that my expectations should have been on a movie that is intended solely to impress people like me, rather than on a monologue. Besides, empty rooms and lighting actually helped me imagine what I was supposed to see in them. It was probably the director’s intention to let us “put ourselves in his shoes.” If he were to give all the details visually, it will color our perception and limit its capacity to imagine. Lighting and sound effects hinted to us what kind of atmosphere we were to feel and that was just enough information given to the audience.
Just like lighting and sound effects, there are several devices that were used to convey the mood of Auschwitz. Still, lighting was the most powerful device that influenced our perception of the drama. When there were mood shifts or change in Primo’s (or Anthony Sher’s location, there were changes in lighting, either in color or in brightness. For example, Auschwitz as a whole is depicted by pale blue or grey color in order to emphasize coldness and aloofness. All the colors used in lighting generally evoke dark and gloomy mood. This symbolic image of colors also reminded me of various colors used in “The Great Gatsby,” where colors play a significant role. In both works, colors like purple, grey and blue give a sense of apprehension, while white and yellow lights represent hope. Use of colors in symbolical way like this conveys meanings in a very efficient way. In a book, all the meanings are conveyed through words, a language that is never perfect enough to prevent its loss of meanings. In fact, language, once articulated, has an effect of limiting the meaning as well as defining it. Symbolic languages like colors, although in the most basic form, is actually more accurate in conveying meanings. It also spares some space for the audience to imagine and appreciate the complete meaning. In this sense, use of colors as another tool of communication was very effective.
Another important device was the spatial background. It is interesting how they used the space, again, as a secondary language. One noticeable feature was that there was only one chair used throughout the whole movie, and that except for the place where the chair and Anthony Sher were, all the space was vacant, where all the grey walls surround them. This vacant space gives us an idea of emptiness as well as aloofness that Primo Levi feels as he is stuck in the Auschwitz. It is interesting that the way they arrange the space affects how we perceive the movie as a whole; it changes the whole atmosphere of Anthony Sher’s narration, as it comes to our eyes before it does to our ears.
Although these devices were pretty effective and helpful in creating the background for Sher’s presentation, however, the ability of the actor himself was the most noticeable feature of the movie. It was his voice, gestures and facial expressions that enabled him to perfectly communicate with the audience. His accents matched with Primo Levi – although I do not know how he speaks, I can see that it imitated Italian accents. His facial expressions were more powerful than what he was saying, as they reflected his emotions so clearly. His uniqueness in narrating the story seemed to come from his ability to empathize with Primo Levi and therefore talking as though he himself was the one who experienced it. Anthony Sher was not only able to understand the emotions, but also able to make us understand them.
This monodrama, “If This is a man,” was based on “Survival in Auschwitz,” by Primo Levi. However, no one would ever doubt if we tell them that it is a story of Anthony Sher himself and that the story is from the top of his head, not from a book. All the surrounding effects, including lighting, sound effects and spatial arrangement helped Sher produce a successful monodrama, and through them, it overcame the limitation that there is only one person throughout the whole movie and that he/she is the only person who gives the audience a speech.