It's not your guilt I want, it's your responsibility—that might have helped.

—Leduc to Von Berg
The wonderful Finborough Theatre, reputed for reviving “old masters” of the stage, is the perfect venue for Phil Willmott's superb production of Incident at Vichy. Seating only fifty, the theater's intimacy stimulates the intensity of anticipation and fear that were at the center of Miller's intention.

Georgia de Grey cleverly captures the anonymity that Miller seems to imply, with a stark white room furnished only with a spare white bench. The harsh lighting, provided by Robbie Butler, adds to the sense of foreboding. This room, we are told, is in Vichy, France, in 1942, but it could be anywhere, then or now.

Before the play begins we are lulled by Theo Holland's collection of pastoral French songs, a poignant reminder of the past. This contrasts violently with the fiendish crashing of the door...

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