Belgrade Theatre hosts Propaganda Swing

Belgrade Theatre hosts Propaganda Swing

Postby dutchman » Thu Sep 18, 2014 2:30 am

Catherine Vonledebur reviews Propaganda Swing at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry.

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Like BBC 4’s Generation War, Peter Arnott’s original new play depicts the lives of a group of German friends at the start of the Second World War.

But in Propaganda Swing the stories of a group of Berlin jazz musicians are told through the eyes of American war correspondent Bill Constant (Richard Conlon).

Much of the play, a co-production between the Belgrade Theatre and Nottingham Playhouse , is told in a first-person narrative reminiscent of a Raymond Chandler novel.

Bill felt “like he had been shot in the heart” when he met Lala Anderson (the glamorous Miranda Wilford), who is married to band leader Lutz Templin (Tomm Coles). The pair have a secret history – they had met once before in Vienna and their affair continues surreptitiously.

As the audience arrive into the auditorium a live jazz band is warming up on stage.

Libby Watson’s set, an ornate black-and-white Art Deco radio studio, is striking as are the 1940s period costumes.

Lead singer Lala Anderson’s stunning vintage turquoise gown brightly contrasts the monochrome set, while her co-singer, Marilyn Monroe look-a-like Anita Spada (Brassed Off star Clara Darcy), wearing a gorgeous green silk dress, reveals her versatility – trumpet in one hand, trombone in the other.

A Red On Air button lights up as a broadcast begins and the exquisite live jazz begins, sung beautifully.

Jazz with its many black musicians, singers and Jewish composers was at odds with the Nazi’s racist ideology and illegal under the fascist regime and the N-word is used in the play by Nazi officers to describe the music.

Explaining the extent of Nazi suppression, the musicians tell shocked outsider Bill how the Nazi’s know the racial origin of every musician. “But how do they enforce these rules,” asks Bill “Are there Gestapo in the audience all the time?’

Lala, Lutz and larger-than-life nightclub owner Otto Stenzl – “Berlin’s Mr Fix-It” – launch into a witty rendition of Minnie the Moocher, mimicking Nazi mannerisms.

The true story of Charly and His Orchestra, unfolds like a radio play. Tongue-in-cheek, it is told with great wit in an almost old school comic book style. In parts, the look of the play reminded me of Roy Lichtenstein’s pop art. Popular tracks from the 1930s Berlin jazz scene have been lovingly recreated by a talented musical team.

But one strand of the playwright’s painstakingly researched, script did not work for me. Lala secretly meets Bill at a boating lake where she takes her 43-year-old brother every Sunday. Her brother she reveals, was brain damaged in the First World War and the subject of Nazi experimentation. He sits with his back to the audience.

The news that he has died suddenly under mysterious circumstances at a Nazi hospital loses shock value and emotional, partly due to the fact he has remained a faceless figure. It jarred slightly with the lighter, humorous tone of the play.

Propaganda Swing is an intelligently staged history play, directed by Hamish Glen, with an outstanding cast of actor-musicians.

The brilliant Chris Andrew Mellon gives a scene-stealing performance as Otto Stenzl – who is forced to sell his club after hiding his Jewish ancestry. His sharply observed stand-up routine – a fingers-up to the Nazis – in the second half is for me, one of the highlights.

Runs until September 27

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