Review: Adolf Hitler, My Part In His Downfall, Lyceum

Published on Wednesday 7 October 2009 10:11

Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall **** Lyceum

GUNNER TA Milligan's hilarious and poignant memoirs of World War II have been making readers laugh and think for decades, and now the Bristol Old Vic have brought them to life with a wonderful, kinetic and inventive show at the Royal Lyceum Theatre.

Using the central idea of a concert party performance and turning each recollection of the war into a sketch was the biggest risk and the greatest success of this show. It perfectly captured the disjointed nature of the original memoirs as well as, with the use of music choreography and performance comedy, flagging up the contradiction that, despite everything else, war gave these young men the opportunity and freedom to express themselves that they would never have had in civvie street.

A key theme in Milligan's comedy was a distrust of authority figures and here we can see the genesis of his feelings towards those who hold power over ordinary people. The idiocy of the military machine – from out-of-touch officers to the bizarre logic of NCOs' silence when talking to an officer – was stripped bare in these vignettes from the battlefield and the action was never funnier than when he came up against the immovable object of King's regulations.

What made this play work so well was its truthful capturing of the camaraderie of the foxhole. Anyone who has ever served in wartime will tell you it's not for King/Queen and country that they fought but for the man in the next bunk, and the troop of actors in this play portrayed the intimacy and solidarity of army life perfectly, making it all the more painful when one of their number was lost.

Individually and as a group the actors were excellent. Sholto Morgan, in his first professional role, made the most of the surplus of superb lines as Milligan, and if on occasion he sounded a little too plummy of speech for the role, he did nail the twitchy energy that was such a large part of Milligan's persona.

William Findlay, Dominic Gerrard, David Morely Hale and Matthew Devereaux were superb as the remaining members of Battery D. The feeling of a group living with and for each other was palpable and the bond these men shared, so strong in the book, came powerfully across the footlights.

The musical performances, using jazz standards and settings of the poetry of members of Battery D never had the forced falseness of musical theatre, but instead came organically from the action on stage and underlined the madness of the situation and emotional core of the story.

Beautifully and simply staged using a minimum of props and old fashioned lights and bangs to convey the battlefield, this was a genuinely intelligent, hilarious, entertaining and satisfying recreation of Milligan's memoirs. Anyone who has an interest in Milligan or wants to know what war was like for the regular Tommy should take the chance to see this touring production before it packs up its kit and marches out of town.

&#149 Runs until 10 October