Neither a biographical study nor documentary theater, The Emperor offers a curious impression of the decline and fall of Haile Selassie, the monarch who ruled Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974.
Adapted to the stage as an 80-minute piece by Colin Teevan from allegedly suspect interviews published by Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski during the mid-1970s, the exotic particulars of Selassie’s existence as described in The Emperor recall those hothouse kingdoms once dreamed up by Ronald Firbank in perfumed novels such as The Flower Beneath the Foot.
The story is rendered as a series of anecdotes told by a dozen or so among Selassie’s retainers and courtiers such as the emperor’s pillow bearer, the opener of the throne room’s third door, the imperial zoo keeper, the appointments secretary, and the minister of information. Speaking in reverent tones, they share their gilded memories of the daily doings within Selassie’s regal world of limousines, golden halls, flocks of flamingos, public audiences, and those private moments when he would “plot his next move on the chessboard of power.”
Then some of them describe how the gradual rise of a younger, liberal generation opposed to Selassie’s autocratic governance begins to chip away at his authority. And how the monarch vainly tried to hang on to his throne by throwing up a smoke-screen of construction projects and lavish entertainments. “Who needs reform when you have development?” says someone.
Not entirely a one-person show, The Emperor is a showcase for Kathryn Hunter, a British actor who may be diminutive in size but certainly looms large in presence. The event, a co-production of three companies from abroad including the Young Vic in London, has been imported by Theatre for a New Audience to its Polonsky Shakespeare Center, where it opened on Sunday.
A tiny yet arresting figure, Hunter commands a virtually bare stage as she embodies the men who served Selassie in the waning years of his reign. The actor’s transgender and especially transracial performance as a white artist depicting Ethiopian men may seem edgy to some viewers and a tad dubious to certain sensitive others.
Wearing tan make-up and a crown of close-cropped white hair, Hunter sports a military tunic and employs various props such as a walking stick and a horse-hair fly swatter to help delineate the individuals she portrays. Although Hunter is a vital force, she is no Anna Deavere Smith when it comes to creating an effective range of colorful voices and physical attitudes to project these different people. The text, while oddly poetic at times, is not greatly varied in its speech patterns so there tends to be a sameness to the performance.
Usually situated behind Hunter, Temesgen Zeleke, a musician/actor from Addis Ababa, strums up melancholy music on the krar, a native Ethiopian lyre. Occasionally he rushes forward to portray several characters who oppose Selassie’s authority. Walter Meierjohann, the director, nicely augments the narrative through Mike Gunning’s lighting, Dave Price’s atmospheric music, and particularly Paul Arditti’s layered sound design, which delivers the hubbubs of press conferences and revolutions.
Thanks to its fascinating history and Hunter’s forceful presence, The Emperor never ceases to maintain interest, but when all is said and done, this mosaic of viewpoints silhouettes the figure of Haile Selassie rather than fleshes him out.
The Emperor opened September 16, 2018, at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center and runs through September 30. Tickets and information: tfana.org
