Adolf

Pip Utton
St. George's West

On a darkly lit stage with only a small table and chair to break up the stark significance of the crimson Swastika banner hanging in a spotlit solitude behind the stage, Pip Utton gives us Adolf Hitler. Stepping onstage with a vibrant pace, he commanded the attention of the entire room as the Führer delivers his farewell speeches to his staff in his Berlin bunker, during the final hours of his life. Utton's portrayal of Adolf is cleverly paced as periodically his speeches and asides break into fully rallying speeches, complete with echoing reproduction as if the audience were standing in Nurenberg itself.

What is most effective about Adolf is the clever slip towards the end, as the tone of the piece radically shifts. Utton's transformation into his own voice and the subtle inversion of the concept is brilliantly constructed. Done so well in fact that sadly a few members of the audience left the auditorium, either in disgust or thinking the performance was finished. Luckily, those who stayed till the end got to see a brilliantly chilling and ingenious piece of mastery which only goes to show the craftsmanship on display and certifies Utton's place as one of the premier theatre performers working today.

Reviewer: Graeme Strachan

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