Under a Banner of Shadow,
the Hitler play
by Todd Wm. Ristau
Drama
One Act, 60-65 minutes
1 male
Performances $20.00 per,
scripts $7.95 each

Not long before Adolf Hitler's suicide, he dictated his political testament. That action creates the spine of this one-man play, becoming an erratically connected series of fever dream flashbacks which reveal the twisted relationship between truth and deception in the mind of the most hated man in history.

Shadows was originally conceived, written, and produced at the Iowa Playwright's Workshop. The original production drew strong and positive audience response—including an invitation from William Burdett-Coutts, to be included in the 1991 Fringe Festival in the Assembly Rooms at Edinburgh.

This play has been thoroughly researched and the source material is drawn almost exclusively from the quotes, speeches and writings of the ruthless dictator himself. The play is in no way an attempt to eulogize Hitler. On the contrary, nothing could be more a more damning indictment than the man's own words.

The initial production received an invitation to perform at the prestigious Assembly Rooms as part of the 1991 Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it was called "brilliantly repellant" and "all too accurate" by Mario Relich, reviewer for the Scotsman. Peggy Houston, director of Iowa Elderhostel called it; "...deeply moving, extremely accurate, and vitally important in educating another generation about the horror of that period."

Contains adult language and themes. #13-003

Sample text:

[ADOLF reacts as though interrupted]

Ah, here is the model of German efficiency
Each day my valet follows the same routine
He runs the hot water for my bath
Then places fresh underwear on the chair
Cotton underpants, never silk
Once dressed
He sees that I breakfast
Pumpernickel bread
Oatmeal
Cheese
Honey
Milk
And some fresh fruit
I rarely eat meat

Unlike the rest of you corpse eaters
I find the consumption of flesh not only distasteful
But contrary to the human system
Of course
I don't want to spoil your appetites
I hate dining alone
Enjoy your food
Please
I'm not in the business of making converts to vegetarianism
Still
I wonder if I could—
Just for a moment—
Mention a trip I once took to a slaughterhouse
I was invited to visit it
During the time our headquarters was on the Ukraine
It was the largest and most modern in the whole area
Entirely mechanized
A continuous processing plant
Turning live pigs into sausages
Rendering down every trace of the animal into links
Including bone
Excrement
And scraps from the floors
Oh
Everything about it was clean enough
Well organized
Right down to the pretty young girls in rubber boots
Who stood in streams of blood up to their ankles
You look ill
That wouldn't happen to me
I can watch the pulling of a beet from the ground
As easily as the dealing of a cow to the hook
This sort of thing just shows how cowardly people are
They can't face doing certain horrible things themselves
But enjoy the benefits without a single pang of guilt

PRESS:

• Daily Iowan Preview, February 4, 1994
  
• The Scotsman Review, August 31, 1991
  
• Letter of Support from Iowa Elderhostel, August 1, 1991
  
• Kansas City Star, July 26 1991/Edinburgh Festival Flyer
  
• Production photo #1
  
• Production photo #2
  
• Production photo #3
  
• Production photo #4