This curious production plays with our British exceptionalism in two ways: our mythology of the Second World War, and our kneejerk reaction to the name Boris.
The Boris in this instance is Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver, king of Bulgaria from 1918 to 1943.
The exceptionalism relates to the somewhat naïve view that we were the only resistance against Nazi Germany – as the play’s opening jokes we created Dad’s Army and the finale of Blackadder to immortalise our mythology – when others, apparently King Boris included, did too.
The reality is probably a lot more complicated than this darkly comic plays version of events, which has Boris (played by Nick Biadon) bullied into declaring an alliance with Germany by his government (led by Lawrence Boothman as prime minister Filov) only to try to put the brakes on the anti-Semitic edicts emanating from Berlin.
Boris wracks his conscious, and along with his wife (played by co-writer Sasha Wilson), the orthodox church (represented by David Leopold as Archbishop Stefan) and the Jewish underground (Clare Fraenkel), tries to obfuscate and delay the Holocaust from reaching Bulgaria.
In reality Boris’ position is more uncertain, and public and political pressure may have played more of an influence, but whatever the real machinations some 50,000 Jewish Bulgarians were saved from deportation and death. Less happily, more than 11,000 from former Bulgarian territories lost in the aftermath of the First World War, and promised to be reunited as part of the pact with the Reich, were sent to Treblinka.
Bearing in mind that dark fact it seems odd to say the play is enjoyable, but it is. Wilson and Joseph Cullen’s script is playful, and Hannah Hauer-King’s direction follows their lead – musical instruments used by the ensemble to perform Jewish and Bulgarian folk songs are frequently deputised as props, including a violin for a baby and a flute as a typewriter. It’s both subtle and sharp.
It may not be quite a true story, but the piece is honest about that and however faithful it is it shines a fascinating light on a lesser told part of European history. And it does it with a smile, a song, and a sharp reminder of how brutal and beautiful life can be.
- The Brief Life and Mysterious Death of Boris III King of Bulgaria continues at Norwich Playhouse until 22 October 2024, then touring nationally
