Atomic Tales

Atomic Tales is a is a dramatic monologue about the Chernobyl disaster, told through the memories of Lyudmila, the wife of one of the firefighters sent to the plant. Performed by Elena Arvigo in English and Italian, it is less interested in reconstructing the disaster than in the experience of living through it.

The language choice is odd. I understand the production history beginning in Italy may explain it, but in performance it can come across as though Ukrainian, perhaps Russian, has simply been replaced by Italian. For a story so rooted in a particular place and history, that feels disingenuous to the character.

The bigger problem is that the story is already very familiar. This is, essentially, the classic Chernobyl story, recognisable from the HBO series, and the production does not find enough of a new angle to justify telling it again.

There is a worthwhile story underneath it, particularly in the focus on the wife of a firefighter and the personal consequences of the disaster. But the performance pushes too hard. Elena Arvigo is extremely intense, but the acting is melodramatic and very overdone, leaving little space for the material to speak for itself.

Atomic Tales has an important and potentially affecting story at its centre, but the material feels too familiar and the performance pushes too hard. Interesting, perhaps, but little beyond.

Runs 7–16 August and 18–30 August at 3:15pm.