It’s grim up north when the new neighbours move in
The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea Sunday, May 8 wedgewood-rooms.co.uk
Imagine that everything you thought you knew about Hitler’s demise at the end of the Second World War was wrong. Ay Up, Hitler! is the untold ‘true’ story of what really happened: after losing to the Allies, Hitler and his cronies go into hiding in the last place anyone would think to look – Yorkshire.
Donning flat caps, dressing headto-toe in tweed, and adopting strong northern accents, Adolf and the lads meet down the pub to plan their comeback over pints of lukewarm lager.
The satirical comedy is the creation of David McCulloch, of Farehambased company Gamma Ray Theatre.
Ay Up, Hitler! is the first production from the company set up by its writer David McCulloch and his partner Hannah-Cait Harrison to champion new writing.
The idea came about back in 2017 when David was rehearsing for another show with Blackbox Theatre Company.
‘We were doing the John Godber play Bouncers, looking at northern nightlife in the ’80s. For some reason during a break in rehearsals the conversation veered towards Hitler – I don't know why, but someone brought him up...
‘Somebody mentioned it was rumoured Hitler had visited the north of England, or wanted to visit the north of England and I said: “Oh, which part?” They said: “Liverpool”, and I said: “Oh, that's a shame, because if it was Yorkshire, everyone would be greeting him by going: "Ay up, Hitler.”
‘And I thought, ooh, that's a good idea for a play and worked backwards from there.’
Bouncers’ director Chris Hawley loved the idea and encouraged David to write it down, but as David explains: ‘After we finished Bouncers, imposter syndrome took over, and
I thought I can't write a comedy, let alone a comedy about Hitler, and put it aside as a funny thing we came up with in rehearsals.
‘But nobody told Chris that, so for the next year he was telling everyone that he knew a playwright writing a play called Ay Up, Hitler! Then in Christmas 2018 this message got back to me when Hannah saw Chris at a party.
‘I thought I'd better write this thing if everyone thinks that I am already!’
Covid intervened, but the play eventually made its debut last September with a sold out run in Bristol, and is now on a short tour around the south.
But as a bunch of southerners, how are their Yorkshire accents?
‘It's fine because we're playing Nazis putting on the accent, so if the accent's a bit ropey it's because we're southerners playing Germans playing northerners – it's all authentic.
‘There's layers to our performances!’
I thought I can't write a comedy, let alone a comedy about Hitler