Adolf
Smirnoff Underbelly, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Group: Pip Utton Theatre Co & HDV Productions (Holland)

Rob Lyons

Utton's monologue takes us into Hitler's bunker in the final hours of World War II. Sickly and frustrated, Adolf bemoans the people who have failed him, unfavourably comparing their efforts to his own determination to serve the German people.

But Hitler is ultimately two-faced: to his trusted inner-circle, he dispenses his political wisdom, like Macchiavelli in The Prince; to the civilian workers in the bunker, who he regards with disdain, he provides a rabble-rousing speech, littered with self-aggrandisement, bitterness and sentimentality.

Utton rattles through the material to good effect. He should do - he's been performing the piece for a few years now. Convincing as Hitler is not easy, given both the many caricatures of him and the real-life pomposity of such a man, but Utton is very good.

Then, the lights go up, Utton pulls off his tie, and he chats with the audience. Are we getting an impromptu stand-up routine? He tells a few jokes in an observational way, yet it is all a little humourless. But the lack of humour is deliberate - Utton is still in character as the pub populist, the common, small-minded bigot.

It's a nice twist, which isn't obvious at first at all. However, it is let down by the crass punchline: Hitler, or at least the gist of his ideas, could make a comeback at any time, if we are weak and don't challenge those ideas.

It is a popular idea, but it misses the point that there were very special reasons why Hitler rose to power. Adolf had the backing of a German ruling class terrified at the prospect of revolution and prepared to do anything to smash socialists, and unite at least a large minority of society behind some acceptable ideology. Blaming the Jews and the established imperial powers for Germany's problems fitted the bill. Hitler never won an electoral majority in a free vote - he was handed power in all but name.

Today, political life is dominated not by dangerous principles, but by the lack of principle. Far from racism making a comeback, it is utterly unacceptable and looked for everywhere. When the Metropolitan Police are forced to accept that they are unwittingly but institutionally racist, you know times have changed greatly.

It is the twin pillars of relativism and cynicism that sustain the status quo today. The far-right fringe are an irrelevance, winning the odd council seat as a protest vote in northern towns and London boroughs which feel long forgotten by mainstream politics.

Yet, Adolf remains an obsession of liberals and lefties alike. Utton's play appeals to that audience and wins plaudits because of it. But while it is a great piece of low-budget theatre, it is poor piece of political analysis.

1 August to 24 August.

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