This is a time-traveller’s lark in which the two protagonists, Johan and Stefan, travel back in time to 1933 Germany after having had a debate over whether or not they would kill Hitler if they had the option. This interesting debate could have been cleverly brought to stage either as witty satire or a deeper look at the face of evil and how we confront it. Instead it totally falls down in terms of both script and acting.
The redeeming feature was the, at points amusing, Irish-accented and emotionally vulnerable Goebbels.
Johan and Stefan, having unlawfully used a time machine ride to go to off-limits Nazi Germany, knock out two Nazis, take their uniforms, bump into Goering, and are then arrested and interrogated by Goebbels while claiming to be the winners of a competition to dance in front of the Führer. The clerk of the time travel agency arrives with news that assassins are coming from the future to assassinate Hitler, so in order to preserve the space-time continuum the protagonists must join forces with the clerk, Goebbels, Goering, and Himmler to defend Hitler from them. Despite the long discussion on a similar point that the play opens with, once in Nazi Germany the question of the defence of Hitler seems to be remarkably little disputed, the importance of the space-time continuum, and alliance with the worst criminals in history, goes with only a small amount of question. In between all of this Goering shoots one of the protagonists in the head for little apparent reason, and the clerk makes a series of cringe-worthy jokes.
The acting leaves much to be desired throughout from nearly all of the characters, though the extras who play the assassins and anonymous Nazis have good moments. There were nonsensical and borderline sympathetic portrayals of Goering, Goebbels and Himmler, of which the redeeming feature was the, at points amusing, Irish-accented and emotionally vulnerable Goebbels. In fairness this was the first performance, and while the jokes generally don’t land well, a few do, and they, along with the acting, may improve over the course of the Fringe.
