The Producers has always been one of my favourite films. In my youth nearly every bibulous evening ended with a screening in my tiny flat. I also saw the play at the Theatre Royal a few years back and thought it the best comedy I’d ever seen. The film was remade recently and although enjoyable I didn’t think it added anything new.
The reason behind this ramble is the plot; an unscrupulous theatre producer realises he can make money by getting investors to back a sure-fire flop. The play he chooses, Springtime for Hitler, is basically a love letter to Adolph and, needless to say, becomes a hit as audiences assume it is a satire.
What brought this to mind is the play that has just opened in Vienna. Pension Fritzl covers the horrendous tale of the man who kept his offspring incarcerated in his basement for years and subjected them to physical and sexual abuse.
Not my first choice for a night’s entertainment although it too is described as a satire. Hard to see it being a barrel of laughs, I’ll stick to Zero Mostel if you don’t mind.
