About the work
„Schicklgruber" is a puppet-theatre piece by the solo artist Neville Tranter (Stuffed Puppet Theatre). The title alludes to the original surname of Hitler's father. Tranter performs the piece alone, manipulating life-sized puppets that embody Adolf Hitler and his entourage in the final days of the „Third Reich". It is a darkly grotesque satire on power, delusion and complicity.
Plot
The setting is the Berlin Führerbunker in April 1945, as the National Socialist regime lies in its death throes. Enclosed in the underground confinement, Hitler and the people of his innermost circle — among them Eva Braun and leading confidants of the regime — await the approaching end. Tranter presents these historical figures as puppets and shows them in their mixture of megalomania, fear, servility and self-deception. Between grotesque comedy and oppressive seriousness, the piece unfolds a chamber play of downfall: it asks how people behave in the face of their own guilt and inevitable collapse, and strips the perpetrators of any heroic aura.
Cultural significance
Neville Tranter is regarded as one of the most important puppeteers of the present day, one who consistently uses figure theatre for an adult audience and for serious, often disturbing subjects. „Schicklgruber" takes its place in the artistic engagement with National Socialism and uses the estrangement of the puppet to create distance and critical sharpness at once.