Let’s get one thing out in the open from the off – this is not a farce. It’s not even a comedy. So, my expectations were dashed straight away. Silly me – two great comic writers and a title that the Whitehall farces in their heyday would have been green with envy to have…
No, this is a dramatic peek into what could have happened if a young Adolf had become acquainted with Freud. Could Freud have changed history? Or was Hitler’s mania an inevitability beyond anyone’s control?
A bleak, brown set captures the mood. Sadly, for me, it matches the script and the characters too much as well. To avoid comedy, Marks and Gran have dipped their toes into meaty territory, into the very mind of Hitler to try to see why he became what he did. And their device is through Freud’s methods. But, really, this is a play about Freud, not Hitler. To paraphrase, once Hitler becomes Führer, Freud exclaims that he doesn’t know whether to admire Adolf for achieving his dreams or to be appalled by the fact that he has achieved them.
Jonathan Tafler as Freud with Sam Mac as Hitler
And it is ‘dreams’ that is at the core of this play. A wonky doorway and window frame on one side of the stage, a straight one on the other, representing, one assumes, the closeness between sanity and insanity. The play plods along at a dull pace until the penultimate scene – the climax and the whole point of the production: where an elderly Freud faces a triumphant Hitler. A scene reminiscent of Salieri and Mozart, or when Frankenstein finally faces up to his monster… whose head are we inside, at this moment? Has it been a Freudian dream all along? Apart from this magnetic moment, the play had too many scenes, scene changes, lighting changes and characters. Although Jonathan Tafler played Freud convincingly, he was similar throughout. With no obvious journey, he was stuck in a character without much emotional depth. Sam Mac plays a few versions of Hitler, from child all the way through to German Leader. He has more growth, but his ‘temper tantrums’ are what any of us expect to see. Are we watching clichés or well-rounded characterisations?
Sam Mac as a young Adolf Hitler
Sadly, the rest of the cast have to find what space they can in the shadows of these two large characters. But they all come across as having different styles, as though they were in different plays.
The whole piece is disjointed and stutters towards its climax. I can’t help feeling that what began as a Radio Play from 2007 has accidentally been stretched too far and fallen almost into a televisual style. It says, in the programme, ‘Be prepared for an adventurous evening of theatre.’ I was, but it wasn’t.
Photography Chromolume Writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran Director Isaac Bernier-Doyle Producer Annlouise Butt for Chromolume Productions Set & Costume Hannah Danson Lighting Design Simon Jackson
Cast Jonathan Tafler, Nesba Crenshaw, Ruby Ablett, Sam Mac, Brendan Lyle and Neil Chinneck
Venue Upstairs at the Gatehouse, 1 North Road, Highgate Village, London
N6 4BD
Until Sunday 28th September 2025
Tickets £25 from: https://upstairsatthegatehouse.ticketsolve.com/shows/1173663994/events
Showtimes 7.30pm daily (no Monday performances)
Saturdays Matinees at 3pm, Sundays at 4pm Running Time 2 hours – inc interval
Guidance Mentions of antisemitism Socials @upstairsatthegatehouse Website www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com/freudplay