One Million Words – Pleasance Dome

By Natalia Riga

A soundscape of poems recited in multiple languages welcomes us to the auditorium. The show’s programme extends an invitation: we’re not to worry about understanding everything, but instead let the words flow into our souls. We, as audience, are an equal part of this experience. “You never know,” the programme says, “maybe one of these letters was written to you”.

The necessary introductions: Ivo Müller, as both himself and poet Rainer Maria Rilke, will guide us through the thoughts, fears and angsts of a solitary, restless, immigrant artist, struggling to find his place and self. One Million Words is part of the diverse São Paolo Showcase from Brazil. It’s devised from Rilke’s extensive correspondence and appeals to the poet in us, the lonely creative soul longing for connection in a brutal world.

The show is well crafted, utilising a variety of theatrical languages (including some delightful shadow puppetry) and achieving a great balance between sharpness, fullness, stillness and tenderness. Müller exists on stage with exceptional ease and makes sure we’re all included. It is no surprise to learn that Müller is a former school teacher; we feel safe and cared for in his hands, no one will be left behind – at least not for lack of him trying. (In the case of an audience member thirstily scrolling on her phone during the show, his gentle but firm effort to draw her back into the room was commendable.)

The lack of conventional narrative doesn’t feel like a disadvantage. Instead, each piece of text is approached as an étude, a little composition building on from the previous one, an opportunity for the material to instigate an emotional and existential exploration.

The show is at its strongest when he allows the words to come out in his most playful, honest and direct way – usually not as the character Rilke, but as himself, exposed and unguarded. It’s when the revelations are true to him that the words of Rilke come to life. And if there is one thing missed, it is to be let more in on Müller’s connection to Rilke beyond the show’s introduction. I longed to know why these words are important to him. In the scene where he is “learning to see” (one of Rilke’s most important moments of clarity), I longed to know what Müller saw! But perhaps a certain level of ambiguity leaves Rilke’s still relevant words more open to our own imaginations.

There is also something beautiful and meta about this show being performed in the largest theatre festival. It’s a wink; an acknowledgement of the often lonely path artists tread, a recognition of the hard work and a reminder of the essence of creation. Life (and art) is as difficult as it is profoundly beautiful. Müller doesn’t only embody Rilke on stage, but every single creative that is concurrently putting on a show at Fringe and beyond. We are all connected. As any good piece of art about loneliness does, this show succeeds in bringing us together.

One Million Words is on to 31 August