Kohlhaas review –Arinzé Kene thunders as a wronged resistance fighter speaking truth to power

Brighton Dome Corn ExchangeThe timeless parable of a 16th-century horse dealer turned violent protester questions the personal cost of resistance in this awe-inspiring production from Omar Elerian It starts and ends with a circle. Arinzé Kene stands, runs or speaks inside it. For his 16th-century horse-dealer protagonist, Michael Kohlhaas, its circularity represents a world in which all is in order. When its equanimity is disturbed with the theft of two of his most prized stallions at the hands of an entitled baron, he sets about single-handedly taking on the system that upholds this injustice, first taking his case to the law courts, then the emperor, and finally spilling angrily out on to the streets. Based on Heinrich von Kleist’s novella, Michael Kohlhaas (itself based on a real-life case), this is an awe-inspiring production, stupendously directed by Omar Elerian, and resounding across the ages in its exploration of protest as well as the personal cost of speaking truth to power. It could not be more timeless, or more relevant. Kohlhaas exhausts all reasonable, legal routes against the theft before taking up the cudgel, only resorting to violence when the system of aristocr