Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall – Darlington Civic Theatre

Writer: Spike Milligan

Adaptors: Ben Power & Tim Carroll

Director: Tim Carroll

Reviewer: Ian Cain

The Public Reviews Rating:

Having read Spike Milligan’s wartime memoirs many years ago, I had a fair idea of what to expect from this production – typical Milligan ‘Goon-style’ humour, which seems a little dated today. The show chronicles Milligan’s journey through the war from being conscripted, to North Africa, with Rommel’s defeat, then off to Italy, to his demobbing due to shell-shock.

The production is packed with great tunes of the era, including ‘Lili Marlène’, ‘The Lambeth Walk’, ‘In The Mood’ and ‘Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree’ to name but a few. The cast of five played their roles well, with special mention of Sholto Morgan making his professional debut.

Notices warned that the show contained nudity, bad language and themes of an adult nature, but this amounted to nothing more shocking than a bare bum and a bit of barracks room humour. Certainly, there was nothing to cause any real offence.

Some scene changes were a little laboured and awkward, but overall this did not detract too much.

Rather than being staged as a play, the show took the format of sketches – some of which were better than others. There was even a parody of Hitler, similar to that of ‘The Producers’.

Each member of the cast also played a different instrument in the musical numbers, which added another dimension of entertainment to the proceedings.

Ultimately, this production will appeal, predominantly, to fans of Milligan and The Goons and those who lived through the Second World War. By no means, though, does it have the commerciality to attract a mass audience, despite the fact that Milligan, in his day, was undoubtedly what we would now term an ‘alternative’ comedian.