Expounding ethnic cleasnising, zionist agenda, apartheid, and the influence of sports in politics make Tom McNab's 1936 at Arcola Theatre easily recommended by Naima Khan.
Hitler's opinion of the Olympics in Tom McNab's 1936 is that it's “riddled with Jews and Freemasons” having been born of “the bum boys of ancient Greece”. Crackers like this feature throughout the play: this one's delivered by Tim Frances' Adolf, who comes across less tyrannical and more charming, forcing us to comprehend the human capacity for evil rather than write him off as a lunatic. McNab allows us a curious peek at the flippant führer's ignorance, matched by Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels' quiet determination that the 1936 Berlin Olympics be used to to Nazis' advantage and a gaggle of concurring puppet masters around the globe out for their own gains.
There's an element of that quick repartee you'd expect from a show with a 1930s American journalist as its narrator. This is embodied by Jim Creighton, who has the rare ability to give his seemingly cock-sure investigative journalist a refreshing willingness to question and learn.
Honing in on the manipulative nature of the people who might be regarded as Hitler's yes men, McNab also brings to the foreground the women who, alongside the men, helped perpetuate the ordered, impenetrable image of the Nazi regime. From Goebbels' unafraid mistress to the ambitious, hedonistic film director Leni Riefenstahl responsible for filming the 'ballet in boots' that is the Nuremberg Rally and the promotional footage of the Olympics.
Opting not to use the much seen footage of Nazi rallies or Hitler's speeches, director Jenny Lee prefers to keep her medias separate. She has wisely forgone the images we are all too familiar with for something more unsettling, a deeper look at the design and forethought that went into those pictures.
Through American runner Jesse James, we see the irony and personal conflict that ensues when already persecuted athletes are asked to consider the Jews being persecuted a world away. Pulled in every direction, Jesse's dream is about to come true, his financial troubles eased, but his status in America's apartheid remains unaltered. As a the significant American sports associations vote to go to Berlin, there remains our eerie knowledge that hoards of Jews would soon seek refuge in the US.
By elucidating moments of unseen, tucked away history in its public context, McNab's debut play proves to be a succinct, filmic look at the poignant back-room narratives around the build-up to the first major display of Nazi power. Intelligently and with gentle humour, it highlights the links between discussions in dark corners. 1936 overwhelms us slightly with characters, but moves smoothly around the world, addressing each aspect of sports in politics and, more frighteningly, the times it tries to dissociate from it.
1936 runs at Arcola Theatre until April 24th.
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