The Pale Baron, performed by Belgium-based duo, Kopergietery, is part of the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, an annual celebration of exceptional Scottish and international theatre and dance for young audiences.
The pale baron is the leader of the underwater state, the only one with the ‘talking stick’ that makes him a dictator of a regime that dislikes anyone deemed superfluous or different. Their names go on to a list of ‘inferiors’ that he wants to remove from his land. Poets, in particular, bother him a lot. It’s not what they say, it’s what they don’t; the blank white space between the poem lines, implies all kinds of things, which makes the baron extremely uncomfortable. So, the pale baron fires all the poets into space – and only those who return alive (i.e. none) earn their residency in the underwater state.
Fighting against the state radio that can never be turned off (and, shades of Orwell’s 1984 regularly reminds patriots to inform on their neighbours) musicians – not poets – Felix and Felka are striving to subvert the baron’s supremacy. Then comes the day when they realise they’re not safe, that the pale baron is coming for people like them. Felka, who fled to the underwater state from another oppressive country, doesn’t want to run and start again somewhere else. She’s weary. And as much as they’ll miss each other, she helps Felix to leave while he still can. Felka’s story pauses there, but Felix does find a welcome in another society, and from their he makes sure to share Felka’s story.
There’s an underground gig vibe to this surreal musical tale, in which the audience are asked to participate by singing the praises of the dictatorial baron. The set is minimal yet neon, the music discordant, and the action both simple and complex, absurd and exaggerated. Centred on friendship, loyalty and belonging, it’s a tale of refugees and of loss. It touches on issues like migration, climate change, utilitarianism and political repression; as easily about a dictatorship from the past as the future.
And it’s all wrapped up as a children’s fable.
The aim, of course, is to communicate on two interweaving levels: simple for children, ambiguous for adults.
I’m aware I’ve given away more of the story here than I usually would in a review and it’s partly in order to reflect on the story and get it straight in my head. I was bemused and confused, occasionally mystified, for much of the performance – and it’s not an age thing, as the fourteen-year-old with me, clearly felt the same way. What we both quickly learned was to go with it, accept the absurdity, enjoy the humour, and not to overthink the logic and the language.
The audience around us seemed way ahead, as if they knew what was coming, or maybe were just quicker off the mark than us! And it was definitely an older audience, teenagers and adults, which makes me wonder what the younger end of the age-range thought of it.
Above all, The Pale Baron was original, engaging and thought-provoking. It’s almost certainly a ‘Marmite’ show, although the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve come to like it. Definitely worth seeing.
Traverse 1, Edinburgh, 30/05/25