Hitler on the Roof Is Akvavit Theatre’s Manic Meditation on Propaganda
Somehow Hitler has become an object of humor in popular culture. Perhaps that’s the way we deal with the reality of horror. (But his fellow dictators Mussolini, Franco and Stalin haven’t received the same treatment.) How else explain the success of The Producers’ “Springtime for Hitler”—or this collection of faux or real Hollywood homages to the Fuehrer? How else to explain the array of YouTube parodies on a single scene from the 2004 film Downfall (Der Untergang) about the final days of the Third Reich? The great Swiss-born actor Bruno Ganz plays Hitler in a scene of anger and frustration, which has been parodied in thousands of ways, many described by the Guardian. (Everyone who knows me will guess that my favorite is Hitler’s First Springsteen Show. Watch below.)Playwright Rhea Leman, a native New Yorker, has lived and worked in Denmark since 1981. Her work concentrates on serious subjects treated in humorous or satiric ways. Her opera, The Rosenbergs, was chosen as best opera of 2015 and her play Gorilla, about the global financial crisis, gained her a nomination for best playwright of 2013. Hitler on the Roof by Akvavit Theatre (95 minutes, no intermission) continues through July 9 at the new Strawdog Theatre, 1802 W. Berenice (home of the late Signal Ensemble Theatre). Performances are Thursday-Sunday with $25 tickets online. Student tickets are $15. Get to the theater early to see Akvavit's Fuehrerbunker model and photos of Goebbels, his family, and other historic figures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGJpu5AiYoE
Nancy S Bishop
Nancy S. Bishop is publisher and Stages editor of Third Coast Review. She’s a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and a 2014 Fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. You can read her personal writing on pop culture at nancybishopsjournal.com, and follow her on Twitter @nsbishop. She also writes about film, books, art, architecture and design.