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Thanks to the expanded mandate at the Shaw Festival, audiences are now able to see modern theater as long as it relates to the time period during which George Bernard Shaw lived (1856-1950). Thus we are able to see the one-man play, "Chaplin: The Trial of Charles Spencer Chaplin, Esq.," written and performed by Simon Bradbury, a member of the Shaw ensemble.
"Chaplin" is a one-man tour de force, with Bradbury very much in command for an hour and a half in this powerful piece, which takes place in 1940 in Chaplin's private quarters at his Los Angeles studio. It's a room littered with things, a reflection of its owner's mind. Chaplin is busy with a very big project -- his first talking film, "The Great Dictator." He has read "Mein Kampf" and has some definite views about Hitler that not all share. At the time, many were in favor of isolationism, so his stance in the film is a dangerous one. According to program notes, he received crank letters, and even death threats, throughout the production of his film. In "The Great Dictator," Chaplin is playing two very diverse roles, a Jewish barber in Hitler's Germany and a dictator called Adenoid Hynkel, obviously Hitler himself. How does one find comedic material in Hitler? That's the same question the Broadway hit, "The Producers," and the original Mel Brooks film, addresses.
In the play, Chaplin converses with his two characters, as both want his attention, certain that what they each have to say is right. It is all very cleverly done, with Bradbury conversing with large images on a screen. Bradbury plays all the characters, on and off screen. At one point, the screen image passes real clothes to Bradbury as Chaplin, as he needs clothes to meet with some members of the press. This may be a one-man show, but when Bradbury is not conversing with screen images, he is talking to people over an intercom, showing the complexities of his life, both in his private quarters and in the world around him.
Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in London in 1889 to a pair of music-hall entertainers. His father was an alcoholic and his mother had mental problems. In the play, a point is made that Chaplin's first stage appearance was at the age of five, when he sang in his mother's place, mimicking the way her voice cracked. Though his Hollywood film career was most successful, Chaplin's private life was scandalous. His first two marriages were to teen-age actresses, and in 1944 he lost a much-publicized paternity lawsuit. In 1952, the U.S. government denied him permission to re-enter the country. Thereafter, he lived in Switzerland with his wife Oona, the daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill, and their eight children, retuning to the United States in 1972 to accept a special Academy Award.
As Chaplin, Bradbury is outstanding. This is Bradbury's 14th season with the Shaw. He has been in numerous productions, but what sticks in my mind is his Willie Mossop in "Hobson's Choice," as he comes on stage through a trap door in the floor.
Kudos to director Neil Munro and all those involved in technical assistance. Audience members leaving the theater were very vocal about their opinions, most of them favorable. The reaction of a live audience is what sets theater apart from film. "Chaplin" employs the unique idea of mixing live theater with film, and the result is outstanding entertainment.
"Chaplin" is onstage at the Courthouse Theatre through Oct. 6.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | August 27 2002 |