Widely considered most evil man of the twentieth century – and one its most gifted orators – Hitler’s enigmatic character still fascinates people around the world to this day. His reign of terror finally ended on April 30 1945, when he committed suicide together with his long-time partner, Eva Braun, to avoid capture.
But what if he didn’t?
What if the Nazis had one more deception left to play – one that could see them rise to power again, and conquer an unsuspecting world?
This is exactly the alternate universe born in the mind of NotOnTV’s Greg Viljoen.
Written and directed by Viljoen, and originally produced by Jo Watson, The Last Moustache takes us to a world in which the Führer was successfully assassinated in his notorious Wolf’s Lair headquarters in 1944. But the Nazi propaganda machine devised a cunning plan to convince the world that their leader had survived, hiring a troop of actors to take on the real-life role of Hitler.
One of these actors, in Viljoen’s imagination, anyway, was Heiner Schmidt, a once highly acclaimed German theatrical performer, played here by Tim Plewman (right). This is the story of that actor – and how he was hired to play the role of a lifetime, with only the recognition of a handful of Nazi buffoons to look forward to.
Through Heiner, we are offered a true insight into what it takes to be – at all times; around the clock – a simultaneously revered and reviled individual.
The Last Moustache runs at The Market Theatre from August 7 until September 1.
Tickets are available at Computicket.