They Saved Hitler’s Brain
and Put It in Walt Disney
Written and Directed by Billy Bermingham
at The Charnel House, 3421 W. Fullerton (map)
thru Dec 7 | tickets: $12 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
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Over two hours of pointless depravity
The Charnel House presents
They Saved Hitler’s Brain
and Put It in Walt Disney
Review by Keith Glab
They Saved Hitler’s Brain and Put It in Walt Disney. What begins as a fairly interesting premise as outlined in the title soon degenerates into random acts of sex and violence. The first half hour of the show follows how Hitler’s brain makes its way into Walt Disney, then the remainder concerns depraved Disney characters in some kind of sex war with the Republican party.
Snow White (Rachel Shapiro) is a prostitute, while Tinkerbell (Victoria Szilagyi) and Peter Pan (Christea Parent) have substance abuse problems. Nevertheless, this trio of protagonists consists of some of the least amoral characters of the play. They face off against a bunch of evil Republicans whose schemes and motivations are difficult to follow because they so quickly get distracted by the need to shoot, have sex with, or defecate on someone.
Billy Bermingham’s plot is too incoherent to be considered satire or even farce – it’s more of a romp. It certainly doesn’t help that he doubles as the show’s director and instructs his inexperienced cast to deliver all of their lines without a trace of nuance. Every line gets belted as quickly and loudly as possible in a halfhearted accent. They are usually delivered out to the audience rather than to another character onstage, and every moment is played for laughs. Granted, this isn’t the sort of show that lends itself to subtlety, but the actors could at least try putting inflection in a line or two, perhaps even a dramatic pause here or there, ideally finding a kernel of truth somewhere along the way. Of course, that would require Bermingham to cut his self-indulgent script, running over two hours, or else the nonsense would last even longer.
The one aspect of the production that’s legitimately well-done is the technical effects. The brain of Hitler speaks from a jar completely in synch with a lighting effect (rather like a Dalek) and jumps from host body to host body pretty convincingly. One character gets decapitated in a reasonably believable stunt. Possibly gallons of various bodily fluids squirt across the stage throughout the show – blood, urine, ejaculate – and it all looks about as realistic as you could ask for. The aesthetics of the violence, defecation, and sex don’t make these crude, repetitive gags any funnier, however.
Given the concept, this show should at least be good for some laughs. Act two opens with a ridiculous Republican orgy scene in bodysuits headlined by Dick Cheny, Karl Rove, Ronald McDonald, and Sarah Palin. But as just another pointless gag in a series of shock value scenes, it falls flat. In the absence of humor, there’s not much left here to hang your hat on. If the production contains a message beyond “Republicans are worse than Hitler,” I missed it.
Rating: ★
They Saved Hitler’s Brain… continues through December 7th at The Charnel House, 3421 W. Fullerton (map), with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 9pm. Tickets are $12, and are available by phone (773-871-9046) or online through BrownPaperTickets.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at TheCharnelHouseChicago.com. (Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes, includes an intermission)
artists
cast
Matt Dealy (Hitler/Cracker), Sean Magill (Karl Rove/Dickey Da Mouse), Christea Parent (Peter Pan/Cindy Reilly), Dan Rubens (Shpeers/Doofy), Rachel Shapiro (Snow White/Annette), Victoria Szilagyi (Tinkerbell/Nancy Grace), James D. Thompson (Dick Cheney/Goebbles)
behind the scenes
Billy Birmingham (director), Emma O. Alamo (stage manager, props), Cassandra Carr (lighting), Alex Palma (sound design), Victoria Szilagyi (photos)
13-1010
