Propaganda Swing is a story of music and romance set in Nazi
Germany, during a period which became known as ‘the Phoney War’. Based on true stories
and real people, the story is told through the eyes of young American War
correspondent Bill Constant. It is directed by Hamish Glen, who has a plethora
of theatrical productions under his belt both here and abroad. It stars Clara
Darcy (Emmerdale, The Royal), as Anita Spada and Tomm Coles (Gulliver’s
Travels, Muppets Most Wanted) as Lutz Templin to name only a couple.
The story begins shortly after Billy’s arrival in Germany,
who has fallen in love with a young jazz songstress called Lala after a
fleeting meeting. Bill, Lala and her band all love jazz, but problematically,
the Nazis hate it due to its black roots and also because they believed it was
a Jewish led conspiracy against the purity of German womanhood. The group’s
hopes of being able to play jazz freely soon become a reality, but not in the
way they wanted. An unfortunate encounter results in them having to play for
the benefit of the Nazi war effort and under the strict and heavy hand of Propaganda
Ministry leader: Herr Hinkel. It is in this complicated arrangement that a
story of love, deception, censorship and suspicion unfolds.
Propaganda Swing is brilliant in every way from the music
and characters to the set design.
The set is a cool and stylish chiascuro design, predominantly
black and white laced with iron looking bars formulated into imagery
reminiscent of Nazi symbols. These bars covering the white backgrounds cast prison
bar-like silhouettes onto the stage throughout, encasing the performers in a
cage of shadows, a constant reminder of their potential fate. The contrast is
rather ironic considering the play focuses on grey areas, namely that of Nazi
performance laws.
The set also matches coolly with the tone and narrative of
Propaganda Swing, which feels very similar to classic film noir.
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| Nazis referred to jazz as 'Entartete Musik' which translates as forbidden music |
The cast are also brilliant, with several stand-out
performances. The star of the show has got to be Otto Stenzl, played by Chris
Andrew Mellon, a closeted Jewish homosexual who loves to party. A darker skin
tone would be the only thing that could make Hitler hate him even more. He
turns from a character known as ‘the fixer’, who can get you anything and
everything, to a shadow of the man he once was. Miranda Wilford as LaLa
Anderson, the pretty jazz singer is also another standout performance. You are
shocked the first time you hear the powerful yet mellifluous voice that she
emits when singing, not something you’d expect from her speaking voice. This is
not surprising however, since she is a regular vocalist with several big bands
including Syd Lawrence Orchestra and The World’s Biggest Big Band. Finally is Paul
Lincoln as Heinrich Hinkel of the Ministry of Propaganda. Hinkel is the ever
seeing eye of censorship, ensuring the strict rules of the Reich are abided by
and will not hesitate to punish those that break them. He plays his character
with conviction and it is hard not to dislike him from the outset.
To bring all of those aforementioned things together is the
music. As expected Propaganda Swing has a great soundtrack of jazz and pop
music of the time. These include Tiger Rag, Makin’ Whoopee, Who’s Afraid of the
Big Bad Wolf and St Louis Blues to name only a few. Each song is sang
brilliantly by various members of the cast and backed up with a brilliant band
which includes bass, percussion and piano.
Propaganda Swing is a well told story that is funny, moving,
enjoyable and expectedly jazzy. It is an overall stylish and sophisticated
production that oozes emotion.
It seems fitting to say that Propaganda Swing is just like a
pantomime, what with the music, love triangles, goodies that end up as baddies
and baddies that aren’t that bad. There’s even a bit of damey-ness in Stenzl
thrown in for good measure. The most fun you will have around men wearing Nazi
uniforms, aside from going to a party with Prince Harry.
Propaganda Swing is on at the Nottingham Playhouse until
Saturday 17 October, with tickets starting from £9.50. Tickets are available
both in-person from the box office and online here at the Playhouse website.
Directed by Hamish Glen
Written by Peter Arnott
Musical Supervisors Hilary Brooks and Steve Tromans
Jonny Bower as Charlie Schwedler
Callum Coates as William Joyce/Lord Haw Haw
Tomm Coles as Lutz Templin
Richard Conlon as Bill Constant
Clara Darcy as Anita Spada
Chris Andrew Mellon as Otto Stenzl
Paul Lincoln as Heinrich Hinkel
Miranda Wilford as LaLa Anderson
