HEROIC STORY, NEAR MISS
It could hardly be a better theme and story for this terrific little theatre, which since its opening has explored the darkness of Nazism and the heroism of those who resisted it, brilliantly in The White Factory and Most Precious of Goods. And then explored its modern aftermath in What We Talk About when we Talk About Anne Frank. Again this small-scale musical is an echo of that past with potential messages for today: the true tale of a group of students in Munich, led by Sophie And Hans Scholl and their friend Christoph.
Before the three were caught and executed they had , with a group of friends, distributed hundreds of magnificently fiery leaflets exposing the lies and brutalities of Hitler. These pamphlets – some smuggled out and later dropped in thousands by the RAF – are full of passion. “Adopt resistance wherever you are, block the functioning of this war machine before it is too late”. “Every word from Hitler’s mouth is a lie”. “”An end to terror is preferable to terror without end. Jews have been murdered in a bestial manner, the most terrible crime against the dignity of Man”. They were brave intelligent young martyrs, and Brian Belding’s mission to commemorate them is admirable: he wrote the lyrics and book, Natalie Brice the music.
But deep frustration grew as this production limped along, imported after some off-Broadway sucess with its NYC director Will Nunziata leading a new British cast. It is slow-paced and curiously presented, with the spoken dialogue often spiritless – these are students! – and also oddly quiet (Collette Guitarte’s Sophie is often downright inaudible, screen-acting rather than stage) . But then suddenly the sound breaks out into songs (pretty forgettable) with lots of belting which, as they’re miked feels almost strident. It’s an uncomfortable mix.
The play should pivot round Sophie , but somehow neither text or player feels strong enough. Among the men it feels a bit stronger, trying to express the differences and doubts (“this is not our fight, none of us are Jews” ) , and the shaken horror of those back from the front in Poland, or who fear exposing their families. The hesitation and final co-operation of the professor, (Mark Wilshire) who is almost shamed by his students’ resolve, is interesting. Ollie Wray, serving as a policeman, has good interaction with Sophie, underlining how young they all were; so does Tobias Turley as her brother Hans. And there is a good moment when Lila, on the fringe of the friendship group, points out that her position is not like theirs, as they could give up this dangerous business any time but she is Jewish.
But there’s not enough energy – despite the music – and they somehow don’t feel like German students of the 1940s, more like American campus complainers today. Some of their discussions are flatly written, some lyrics well-meaningly but grimly banal “Truth isn’t dead, it’s just hidden away in the hearts of those of us who still care”.
Shame to say I found myself thinking how much vigour could be added by some actual Nazi rhetoric, just to show us why they’re so angry. In the better second half we do get this – a splendidly nasty address to the university about the Fatherland’s need for “men of iron, strong, obedient, soldiers not students’ and how female students would be better off “making warm beds for fighting men and soldiers for the Fuehrer”. This at last brings us to some sense of how it might have felt. So does the judge at the infamous ‘People’s Court”, silencing them for their “treasonous lies” and leaflets “vulgarly defaming the Fuehrer”. We are reminded that Sophie was only 21 when she died, most of the men hardly older.
That was real, and should be remembered forever. And I hope to read more about them, and that others will. But as a musical, it’s a miss.
marylebonetheatre.com to 14th April
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