1936 – Arcola Theatre, London

Writer: Tom McNab

Director: Jenny Lee

Reviewer: Róisín Stack

The Public Reviews Rating:

Not far from the cranes hanging over the soon-to-be London Olympic stadium, Dalston’s Arcola Theatre hosts Tom McNab’s historical piece about the Berlin Olympics of 1936. The production focuses on the politics behind the event and takes us from the early days of the bid right through to Jessie Owens’ return to the U.S, gold medals in hand.

Opening in an atmospheric smoky room, surrounded by the flags of the world, we are introduced to narrator William Shirer, an American sports broadcaster. Shirer dons a journalist’s hat over greased side-parted hair and a short moustache. Jim Creighton’s Shirer not only looks the part but maintains a flawless accent throughout and is played with heart and subtlety. He narrates throughout, jumping between continents to relay the tales of Olympiad Jessie Owens, International Olympic Committee president Henri Balliet Latour, and athlete Gretel Bergmann. Through the eyes of Shirer’s earnest journalism we watch the fate of those involved in the 1936 Olympics against the backdrop of Nazi Germany.

A film noir aesthetic is created by the flawless lighting and sound design from Howard Hudson and Tom Gibbons respectively. The play moves from track, to office, to eatery with minimal set changes and the eloquent costumes work excellently with the staging in creating the period.

1936 tells in great detail a chapter of history that is almost forgotten. It presents an insight into the world of American sport and the back-door politics that were employed to ensure America’s representation at the 1936 Olympics. Theodore Lewald hails the event as the world united while Goebbels declares it the world’s greatest PR exercise. Given the timeliness of the piece, it is shame more was not made of this contradiction; the Olympics fuelling both a sense of global unity and a surge of nationalism.

McNabb’s text is informative and interesting, and considers both the political and personal ambitions of those involved. However, as a play the scenes are too short to enable audience engagement and with the constant narration the piece feels more like a historical reconstruction than an exploration. At times the dialogue is clichéd such as American Jeremiah Mahoney’s reference to everyone liking ‘mom and apple pie’. The scene endings become predictable as each one is heralded by the repetition of a line or a grave, definitive statement. This effort to achieve dramatic tension is slightly irritating and wholly unnecessary. It sometimes seems as though McNabb struggles to find the balance between educating the audience and creating a dramatic experience.

To its credit, Attic Theatre Company has employed a cast strong enough to take on the sometimes lacking scenes and Jenny Lee’s direction ensures the smooth execution of quick changes. It is a great relief that the cast rather prudently choose not to indulge in faux-German accents for their Berlin characters. Tim Frances gives a very considered performance as Adolf Hitler, avoiding the caricature of an angry, evil man, giving us instead a logical and human leader. The cast excels in playing multiple roles in quick succession, adopting different accents and postures in seamless changes from Germany to England, France to the U.S.

1936 is an informative piece of theatre with excellent production values; the timing of sound and light queues is impeccable and the cast are faultless in their precision with set and character changes. It is a tight ensemble that presents this, at times over-written but none-the-less interesting, piece of theatre.