For those unfamiliar, Firebird is based on Sergey Fetisov’s memoir The Story of Roman, which tells a true tale of forbidden love set during the height of the Cold War. It has already been turned into a film – also called Firebird – and has now been adapted into a stage production, which has opened this week at Islington’s King’s Head Theatre.
It tells a fascinating story – one that we feel should be better known – so we’re happy that a wider audience will become familiar with it as a result of this play. We’re introduced to Sergey (Theo Walker) and Roman (Robert Eades) who are both serving in the Soviet air force in occupied Estonia, and it soon transpires that they are more than just good friends. The show is something of a love triangle including Luisa (Sorcha Kennedy) who is close with both men, but has a particular romantic interest in Roman. Completing the cast is Nigel Hastings as Colonel Alexei, an authority figure who serves as a reminder of the repressive regime within which our story unfolds.
It moves along at a fair pace – it’s just 90 minutes straight through (no interval) and there’s a lot to this story, starting out in Estonia but following Sergey as he moves to Moscow to pursue his dreams as an actor. We watch as their relationships develop – both Roman’s with Sergey, and Roman’s with Luisa – and the subsequent toll this takes on their respective friendships and circumstances.
We thoroughly enjoyed the play – it’s genuinely a really interesting story, one with some gripping twists and turns, and it’s told with wit and warmth. We did have a few issues, predominantly that the brief run time and the quantity of narrative to get through means that some elements feel a little rushed. We don’t see as much of Sergey and Roman’s burgeoning relationship as we’d like – it fizzes but never quite sparkles – and there’s precious little time for character development. The biggest casualty of this is Colonel Alexei – there’s a brief allusion to an ex-wife, clearly he has events in his past that he regrets – but for the most part he serves as a fairly one-dimensional representative of the Soviet regime.
Overall though, we had a great night out with Firebird – it’s a hugely compelling story and one that deserves to be better known. We still live in a world with regimes that are oppressive towards the queer community, and LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms are (sadly) once again the topic of debate in news cycles around the world, so this story feels timely and urgent. It’s also a good excuse to visit the brand-new (and very nice) King’s Head Theatre space, which opened last year in the new Islington Square development, behind the old pub theatre of the same name. Well worth checking out.
GAY TIMES gives Firebird – 4/5
More information can be found here.
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