In “The Hunt,” Tobias Menzies portrays a preschool teacher whose community turns against him after a false accusation by one of his five-year-old students.  The play is an English-language adaptation of a 2012 Danish film entitled “Jagten,” which, though not widely viewed in the United States initially, was nominated for an Academy Award as best foreign film, and is currently available online with English captions. The film is devastating. The play is less so. Opening tonight on stage at St. Ann’s Warehouse, “The Hunt” makes for uncomfortable viewing, but not just in the ways the adapters intend.  

Menzies, best-known on this side of the Atlantic for his Emmy-winning portrait of Prince Philip, the Queen’s consort, in seasons three and four of “The Crown,” here plays another reserved character. Lucas lives in the rural Danish community where he grew up, beloved by his students, admired by the members of the local hunting lodge for being the best shot in town. But he’s also a loner – he is divorced, his son Marcus living with his ex-wife; his job is a step down for him (the secondary school where he taught has been closed), and even those who know him best, including his best friend Theo (Alex Hassell), find him remote, reserved. As Lucas at one point observes about himself: “My father was a private man, he was only happy on the Arctic ships. I carry that.” 

In this way, he is somewhat similar to Theo’s young daughter Clara (portrayed at alternate performances by Aerina DeBoer or Kay Winard), who keeps to herself, is afraid to walk on any lines in the ground, and feels neglected by her parents Theo and Mikala (MyAnna Buring), who we see expending most of their energy bickering with one another. This surely explains why Clara has developed such a crush on Lucas that she kisses him on the mouth and gives him a gift of a red heart-shaped lollipop – and why she’s so upset when he gently rejects her gift (“You should give it to a friend”) and tells her “touching like that? It’s for mummies and daddies. It’s not for teachers. OK?” 

Having just seen a pornographic video found by her classmate Peter (Rumi C. Jean-Louis or Christopher Riley), on his father’s  smartphone, Clara lies to Hilde, the head of the school (Lolita Chakrabarti), that Lucas exposed himself to her. 

This quickly spins out of control,  to accusations by several more youngsters that he not only exposed himself, but touched them in the basement of his house, which they all describe in similar detail. Authorities arrest him, but then let him go – because his house has no basement.  But the people in the community are nevertheless convinced that he is guilty – his remote personality probably hurts him – and the situation escalates into violence.

Director Rupert Goold, the artistic director of London’s Almeida Theater, where David Farr’s adaptation debuted in 2019, has turned the story into an exercise in inventive staging. In an early scene, members of Lucas’ hunting lodge sing raucous drinking songs and perform what feels like a savage ritual (in the film, they just swam naked in the local lake); later, in an apparent nod to the main community activity of deer-hunting, we see Minotaur-like figures.  Es Devlin, the Tony-winning scenic designer for “The Lehman Trilogy,” has created another transparent cube for “The Hunt” – a small one in the middle of the stage that serves as the classroom, the local hunting lodge, the local church with the characters crowded inside, as if to emphasize the (claustrophobic?) closeness of the community. Characters magically appear and disappear in the cube – and not just human ones.

The effect is to make the story more symbolic; less grounded in reality. But, perhaps paradoxically, the surreal touches are less problematic – less distracting — than some of the realistic ones.

It’s somehow more disturbing to involve child actors in such a story when it’s on stage than on screen. One can at least imagine that the children in the movie are somehow kept in the dark – through isolated takes — about the story in which they are central players. An advisory on the St. Ann’s website says: “The Hunt  is recommended for ages 15+. Children under 12 will not be admitted.” So why are they admitted on stage?

And then there’s the dog — Fanny in the film; Max at St. Ann’s.  I’m afraid the canine upstaged the humans in all his scenes. I can’t blame him; it was my fault that I stopped paying attention to the dialogue; Max mesmerized me, especially when he suddenly vigorously wagged his tail as soon as Raphael Casey as Marcus appeared  on stage. I’m going to guess this was because Max knew that Marcus would soon take him out of that cube, and bring him backstage, to treats, or home.  

 The Hunt
St Ann’s Warehouse through March 24
Running time: 1 hour and 40 minutes, no intermission.
Adapted by David Farr 
based on Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm’s film Jagten
Directed by Rupert Goold
Set by Es Devlin , lights by Neil Austin, costumes by Evie Gurney, sound by Adam Cork, movement by Kel Matsena
Cast: Myanna Buring, Raphael Casey, Lolita Chakrabarti, Aerina Deboer, Adrian Der Gregorian, Ali Goldsmith, Alex Hassell, Shaquille Jack, Rumi C. Jean-Louis, Danny Kirrane, Tobias Menzies, Christopher Riley, Jonathan Savage, Howard Ward, Kay Winard
Photos by Teddy Wolff