New Theatre, Cardiff
Tue 20 Oct-Sat 24 Oct
What with all his heinous war-mongering and grotesque crimes against humanity, Adolf Hitler is not primarily recalled as a source of great mirth. Yet the Nazi lunatic has been the subject of some memorable lampoons over the years, often by satirists seeking to test the boundaries of what is considered acceptable comedic subject matter.
TV aficionados will be aware of short-lived spoof Heil Honey I’m Home!, in which Adolf and Eva attempted to get along with their Jewish neighbours in a suburban sitcom milieu. There was also ‘Allo, ‘Allo!, which lasted substantially longer than World War II itself, and recast the Nazi occupation of France as an ‘Oo-er missus’ farce. And, perhaps most famous of all, was Mel Brooks’ blackly comic movie The Producers, in which Gene Wilder’s timid accountant Leo Bloom and Zero Mostel’s outrageous conman Max Bialystock plotted the most disastrous flop in theatrical history – the astonishing Springtime for Hitler.
Brooks converted The Producers into a Broadway-conquering musical in the early 21st century, and the plot of the stage version adheres closely to his original Oscar-winning scenario, with Bialystock and Bloom forced to contend with an egomaniac director and unhinged playwright as they bid to get rich off the back of their bad taste extravaganza.
This New Theatre production is being staged by the Orbit Theatre Company in celebration of the acclaimed amateur troupe’s 40th anniversary.
Tickets: £7.50-78. Info: 029 2087 8889 / www.newtheatrecardiff.com (PM)