Goering's Defense
Fringe Factory Theatre - The Tea Room
Until Sun 2 March

"There's a difference between The Jew and the Jew in front of you. And that's why you must keep your distance." This one line sums up the stage show 'Goering's Defence': just when you think you can come to understand the man who was Adolf Hitler's second-in-command, even possibly admire him in some way, you are reminded that he was a monster who managed to convince himself, with great pains, that he was doing the right thing.

There's not much, production-wise, to 'Goering's Defence'. All we see on stage is one man, a chair, and a spotlight. The narrative weaves between Goering, played by Ross Gurney-Randall, answering a disembodied prosecutor at Nuremberg, and his last night in his cell, where he relates his life story to the audience. The technique is quite effective. At the start of the performance Goering seems almost one-dimensional in his arrogance and righteousness. But as the story progresses, as he refuses to give anything to his unseen persecutors but tells all to us, we begin to see the man as a fascinating mix of the deeply human and the repulsively ruthless.

This is all thanks to Gurney-Randall. He doesn't attempt a German accent, wear a suit full of medals or anything so crass. He simply talks to us as if he were Goering, as if he uniquely understands the person, with all his hubris, spite and terrifying self-delusion. True, the writing, so simple and so clever, is a big part of this production. But it is the mesmerising portrayal of a man you know is irredeemable - whatever else the play does, it doesn't absolve Goering - that leaves a lasting impression.

Henry Nicholls