by Charlie Chaplin is part of the old Hollywood canon, and you can find it on every must-watch film list from IMDb to the Criterion Collection. The 1940 classic film is still dearly beloved today because of Chaplin’s brazen decision to tackle the violence of fascism and the rampant discrimination of Jews in Nazi Germany by turning it into a slapstick comedy. While filming the movie, Chaplin was well aware of Hitler’s antisemitism and wrote the film as a warning against fascism, even though he only found out about the full scale of Hitler’s violence after the war.
The play , by Nikolai Azzopardi Productions, also made its debut during a politically charged period. The play debuted just a few weeks after an MEP election that saw a significant swing to the right by the continent. Azzopardi, who is making his debut as a producer with this production, like Chaplin, also wanted the play to serve as a warning against the pitfalls of populism and to remind people that fascism is not something that exists solely in the past but raises its ugly head even today.
The strength of is that it manages to tackle the duality of the fear and power of fascism through humour. The cast of the play managed to show this duality beautifully, not just because the six members played multiple roles. This was largely due to the consistent comic timing throughout the production, thanks to the influence of the award-winning Malcolm Galea, who adapted and directed the play.
It is no easy feat adapting.
