A Hero of our Time

Following a sell-out run at the Edinburg Fringe, A Hero Of Our Time marks the world premiere of a new adaption of Mikhail Lermontov’s 1840 novel. Now showing for a four week only run at Arcola Theatre.

Surprisingly this marked my first trip to the Arcola Theatre. Despite its closeness and great location to me, I’ve somehow been slow at attending their incredible programmed shows from 2018. So yes, I jumped at the opportunity to attend A Hero of Our Time. Besides, for anyone like me has sadly never managed to attend an Edinburgh Fringe Festival show, this was a perfect opportunity to catch a sold-out production in another city while gaining the same high-quality experience expected. 

A Hero of Our Time, Mikhail Lermontov’s 1840 novel follows the protagonist army officer Pechorin played by Oliver Bennett who is competing for the love of Russia’s Princess Mary against Grushnitski (James Marlowe). The play starts off at a steady pace, with Pechorin proving how cool and smooth he is, no matter what decade this is. Prancing around in a long men’s double-breasted coat with a stereotypical bad boy attitude before the first line has even been spoken. There are moments the cast are screaming and shouting at each other before it all comes to blows with a joust before sofas are thrown across the stage and raw lemons are eaten in a split second.

Though my favourite and highlight throughout the play was a bias moment when Princess Mary lip-synced the entity of the Whitney Houston classic I Will Always Love You, as it added unexpected yet a nice 21st-century nod to the adaption.

The whole performance uses simplistic methods for engaging audiences through its no thrills yet overall the performance is of high quality and fast-paced, leaving no dull moments or anything to be left to the imagination. Though it tends to get darker towards the end of the play, it is a production definitely not to be underestimated or missed!

Runs until 15 December at Arcola Theatre.

Read more of my theatre reviews here.

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Image © Oleg Katchinsky

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