Review: Man To Man at Royal Court Theatre
⭐⭐⭐ (Three Stars)
Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton was last seen on stage in 1988 in a production of Man To Man - a play by Manfred Karge, translated by Anthony Vivis - at the Royal Court Theatre. It is, then, something of a coup for the venue in its 70th anniversary year to have enticed Swinton back to the theatre to revisit this one-person play 38 years later. A sold-out run indicates audiences are clamouring to see Swinton in a rare stage appearance. There’s no doubt that she delivers an excellent performance in this daring production, directed by Stephen Unwin (who also directed the play when Swinton last starred in it). However, despite the experimental performance art elements being intriguing, the play never manages to find the depth of emotion that the subject matter has the potential to explore through its themes of identity and oppression.
Inspired by a true story, Man To Man introduces us to a German woman who assumed her dead husband’s identity during the Great Depression of the 1930s in order to take over his job as a crane operator. Over the course of 28 scenes in one ninety-minute act, Ella/Max describes their experience as well as the changing Germany around them. In this new production, an additional two scenes have been added to reference the fall of the Berlin Wall - represented in Bunny Christie’s stark white set with a strip of red tape that Swinton rips away at this point in the play to provide a powerful visual moment.
Swinton excels as the unpredictable Ella/Max in Man To Man. Her performance oscillates from haunting and hypnotic to frenetic and unrestrained. After seeing her pour cans of beer over her own head, she gives a playful wink to the audience who flinch as she removes the lid of a bottle of red paint before turning to throw the paint against the bright white wall at the rear of the stage. Karge’s script contains no stage directions, allowing director Stephen Unwin and Swinton the freedom to make incredibly bold choices. While some of these add to the production, others veer further into performance art and can, at times, be a barrier. For example, when Swinton is shouting down a megaphone into a standing microphone, this makes the lines difficult to interpret and thus to connect with.
Man To Man at the Royal Court Theatre in 2026 is bold and unpredictable. However, it is the production’s spectacle that can stand in the way of it being emotionally resonant, despite a powerful performance from its star, Tilda Swinton.
Man To Man runs at Royal Court Theatre until 24th October 2026.
Photos by Ruediger Glatz