Review: EDINBURGH 2024: IN DEFIANCE OF GRAVITY, Summerhall

In Defiance of Gravity is concerned with the historical figures of Prince Felix Yusupov, 1887 – 1967 a Russian aristocrat from the House of Yusupov, well known for partaking in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin in 1916, and marrying Princess Irina Alexandrovna, a niece of Emperor Nicholas II.

Yusupov had a dynamic life studying at Oxford, with celebrity friends such as ballerina Anna Pavlova, lived in Mayfair and engaging in a wild life and a love of cross-dressing. Lewis Chandler skilfully portrays the Prince, with a regal and prominent air.

Writer and performer Saul Boyer, plays Ezra Montefiore, a despicable conman, thriving on the vulnerable in society, billing himself as ‘The Sultan of séance’ and taking in the easily influenced with claims of psychic ability. Ezra likens himself to Titan Prometheus, as a trickster and god of fire, and shoots a flame of fire to effect. He repeats “my grandmother told me to never deal with demons” but establishes himself as a séance performer, plagued by debts and addicted to opium. Ezra the ultimate baddy, is in cahoots with the unpleasant and grubby Miss Guppy. Miss Guppy played by multi-rolling Laurel Marks, does well to distinguish her character of Irina, as the grieving and liberal aristocrat.

The plot is intertwined across several storylines, including LGBTQ open relationships, and references exchanges with Rasputin. As Ezra leeches on to the wealthy couple, chaos descends. Trigger warning, there are sections of the storyline which address baby loss, child death and sibling loss, such is the era.

The new writing explores a fascinating point of history, reimagined with themes of manipulation, drug addiction, fraud and trauma. The scorned Miss Guppy is victorious in her pursuit of personal justice, set on satisfying a vendetta.

In Defiance of Gravity is a creative piece of new writing, highlighting politics within the particular royal circle of the time, blended with an imaginative look at divination, precarity, and profiteering from fraud.                                   

In Defiance of Gravity runs until 26 August 2024 (not 19), 21:15, 55 minutes at Summerhall, Demonstration Room

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