ADOLF Guy Masterson's Centre for International Theatre (CIT) Royalty Theatre Until 27 Feb 2011 Review by Jamie Wright ‘Adolf’ – somewhat unsurprisingly – is about Adolf Hitler. But it’s not just a recreation of his morefamous speeches, or his writings transformed into monologue form; it’s far more incisive than that and,with an interesting breaking of the fourth wall, seeks to put the man into a context, to demonstrate justhow it was he was able to become what he became and drive a nation into war. Under Guy Masterson’s direction, Pip Utton – who also wrote the script and has been performing thisshow since the 1990s – is eerily good as Hitler, particularly the distinct physical mannerisms. But it’s asubtle, disarming portrayal, done in such a way to humanise him, to show him as he would have beenseen by people at the time, rather than the monster we see through the lens of history. As ‘himself’ in the latter section, he is disarmingly congenial and, in a way, far more unsettling thanwhen he’s wearing the toothbrush moustache and swastika. Sound and lighting was significant in that it was mostly simple, but was used very well to switch fromgentle conversations into the fiery, dynamic speeches of the Hitler we’ve seen in newsreel footage. Confronting, thought-provoking and profoundly discomfiting political theatre, it’s not only a lesson inhistory but one in contemporary sociology – with the all-important reminder that Hitler did not exist in avacuum. Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)