THEATRE
I, The Dictator 3 stars
New Town Theatre (Venue 7)
They were both loved by the people, both famed for their little
black moustaches and, in their very different ways, great icons of their age.
There the comparison ends between Charlie Chaplin and Adolph Hitler, but this
one-man play by Poland's Teatre Wiczy, imagines an attempt to bring the two
closer together.
Trying to adapt to the talkies while confronting an
indifferent American studio system, Chaplin is nearing completion of The Great
Dictator when he is approached by a Mephistopheles-like German agent by the
name of Mueller. He has an offer it is hard to refuse. In return for a few
tweaks to take the sting out of this anti-Nazi satire, the Fuehrer will give
Chaplin a six-figure sum to run his own studio in Germany. Chaplin's dilemma is
whether to stay true to his political principles or to his art.
In Romuald Wicza Pokojski's production, actor Krystian Wieczynski tells the story
with a good deal of physical vigour – unexplained tap-dancing routines and all
– but also little narrative development. After a promising start, I, The
Dictator seems to go round in circles. Neither does Wieczynski, in his heavily accented
English, fully explain his own connection as a Pole to Chaplin and Hitler,
making it hard to pick apart the thinking behind a good-looking production.
Mark Fisher
Until 28 Aug
© Mark Fisher 2011
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