Springtime for Hitler in Germany…

  • 2006-11-08
  • By Joel Alas
TARTU - Tragedy plus time equals comedy, or so comedians say. Has it been time enough for a comedy about Adolf Hitler to be socially palatable? John Cleese got away with it, goose-stepping about with his finger held to his nose in the immortal episode of "Fawlty Towers," and saying, over and over again, "Don't mention the war."

Charlie Chaplin attempted something similar much earlier 's too early for some, who claimed Chaplin's Adenoid Hynkel in "The Great Dictator" came too directly in the moment of the horror, 1940.
This week sees the Tartu premiere of the Estonian production of "Adolf," a powerful one-man play that traverses precariously between comedy and social commentary.

The basic message of the play is that the intolerance and hatred embodied in Hitler continues to exist today. It manifests itself through "innocent" jokes and "benign" humor, says the playwright.
Originally written and performed by British actor Pip Utton, "Adolf" has been performed across the world to wide acclaim.
Similar to the challenging drama "Downfall," released in 2005 to much controversy and critique, "Adolf" opens in Hitler's bunker hours before his suicide. The audience is given a glimpse inside Hitler's mind as the actor recounts his theories and charts his rise to power.

But the twist comes when Hitler, played in the Estonian production by Indrek Taalmaa, abandons his character and starts talking to the audience in a disarming natural voice. His casual and personal chat becomes somewhat of a comedy routine, lulling the crowd into a false sense of comfort with this new jovial Hitler.
When his jokes become racist and homophobic, the laughing stops. The message hits hard: Hitler's bloodlust might have been stopped, but the true root of his evil still exists.
"The play is directly related to our present day life," says Hannes Villemson, the man who translated the text from English to Estonian.

"It's not about racism exactly. It is also about hatred between different groups of people. He talks about the hatred of homosexuals, and of people with different religious beliefs. Why do people think the way they do, and why do they ridicule others who look different and act differently? It's a more general level of hatred that could exist in all of us."
Villemson admits that the topic of Hitler is a difficult issue in Estonia. Many Estonians, after all, carry somewhat sympathetic opinions of the Nazis, who briefly drove the Soviets out of the country in the 1940's.

"When the Germans came here in 1941, they liberated us from the Soviets, but there was another kind of occupation installed. Today we understand that more than during the Soviet time. Perhaps some people tend to idealize the German rule, but they were also occupiers."
In order to make the British production accessible to an Estonian audience, director Evrin Ounapuu, made the script a little longer, brought in two extra characters and gave it a local flavor. "This part is the funniest, the most important. It brings the action to modern Estonia, and it works very very well," Villemson says.

And as to whether "Adolf" has arrived too soon to be considered funny or acceptable, Villemson said he believes the Furher has made several appearances in pop culture already.
"He has been featured in very many comedies, and I think it is O.K. to show him again. There are very many lessons we can learn from Hitler."

"Adolf"
Theatre Vanemuine, Tartu
Nov. 9 and Dec. 6
Ph. (+372) 7440100
www.vanemuine.ee