Must you forever be playing and jesting?
You must, oh my friends, which sickens my soul
For only the desperate must.
Friedrich Hölderlin
Winter. Vienna 19 ~ (Frau) Death stalks the streets. A young Hitler arrives from Braunau seeking fame and fortune as an artist. Meanwhile in a flophouse on Blood Street, Shlomo Herzl, a Jew, struggles with his magnum opus, Mein Kampf. Chaos ensues.
La Mama and fortyfivedownstairs proudly present a return season of George Tabori’s acclaimed farce, a dizzying and demented play that blends multiple comic genres and humour both high and low.
La Mama Theatre
7 to 25 August 2013
Fortyfivedownstairs
2 to 13 July 2014
writer – George Tabori
director – Beng Oh
set design – Peter Mumford
lighting design – Stelios Karagiannis
sound design – Natasha Moszenin
costume design – Amaya Vecellio
illustration – Tom Miatke
graphic design – Connor Byrt
photographs – Sarah Walker, Lachlan Woods
2014 Cast 2013 Cast Director's Note It is in this climate that Tabori chose to confront and wrestle with all the major issues in his life – God, love, lust, guilt, mortality, his Jewishness and most of all, Hitler, the man who, “changed my life, poisoned my dreams”. The resulting play is part history, part biography and a complete fabrication. It is an honest account from a confirmed liar who stated, “the dialectics of lies and truth are at the core of matters”. Mein Kampf was a sensation when it premiered, with seven productions in its first season and in short order over 40 productions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In many ways Mein Kampf is a portrait of Tabori himself. It is replete with biographical detail, its language is dazzling and it marries low comedy and a subversive sense of humour with a dizzying range of references reflective of Tabori’s own erudition. It is also alive with Tabori’s very real and personal struggles and is aptly named. George Tabori
Shlomo Herzl – Steve Gome
Lobkowitz – David Kambouris
Hitler – Glenn van Oosterom
Gretchen – Stephania Pountney
Frau Death – Sarah Bollenberg
Leopold/Himmlisch – Troy Larkin
Shlomo Herzl – Mark Wilson
Lobkowitz – Mark Bonanno
Hitler – Glenn van Oosterom
Gretchen – Stephania Pountney
Frau Death – Uschi Felix
Leopold/Himmlisch – Samuel Macdonald