Olivier To Put On Controversial Play

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31360, 4 May 1967, Page 11

Olivier To Put On Controversial Play

Sir Laurence Olivier plans to present the controversial play, “The _ Soldiers,” as an independent production in London’s West End. The play, the latest by Germany’s most provocative and controversial present ■ day dramatist, Rolf Hochhuth, was rejected by the board of the National Theatre, of which Sir Laurence Olivier is a director, because of certain allusions to Sir Winston ChurchilL Hochhuth is now revising the play and it should be ready for Sir Laurence Olivier in six to eight weeks, according to “The Times” this week. Sir Laurence Olivier and the National Theatre’s literary manager, Kenneth Tynan, will then have a look at it with a view to independent production.

Both have emphasised that their disagreement with the board did not mean that they would resign from the National Theatre. DRESDEN PROTEST Hochhuth has described the play as a vehement protest against the deliberate killing of civilians in modern warfare, demonstrated by the destruction of the German city of Dresden during the Second World War. His last play, “The Representative,” which dealth with the alleged failure of Pope Pius XII to condemn Nazi atrocities against the Jews, caused an uproar throughout Europe when it was staged in 1963. It was sharply criticised by the Roman Catholic Church. In “The Soldiers” Sir Winston Churchill, Lord Cherwell, Lord Alanbrooke and

t Sir Arthur Harris will be 1 , represented by actors. i r Announcing the rejection of : „ the play, a spokesman for the ' National Theatre said last ! week: “Some of the characters, ■ in particular Sir Winston 1 , Churchill and Lord Cherwell, . [ were grossly maligned and in , consequence the board unani- ; mously considered that the . , play was unsuitable for pro- : j duction at the National \ , Theatre." Lord Cherwell, then Pro-: . fessor Alexander Lindemann, i was Sir Winston Churchill’s • ■ war-time scientific adviser, i i Field-Marshal Lord Alan- , brooke was Britain's wartime i t Chief of Staff. I The chairman of the ■ Theatre’s Board, Lord Chan- ■ : dos, a member of the War ' Cabinet, said: “The board’s . • decision was unanimous. A • play which imputes the I murder of General Sikorski i

to Sir Winston Churchill is not a suitable play for the National Theatre.” General Sikorski, Poland’s Second World War Premier in exile, was killed in a plane crash off Gibraltar in 1943. ASKED FOR TIME Sir Laurence Olivier said last week that he was very sad that he was not given more time to make a better case for the play. “I asked the board to give me more time to work on the piece, which I had started to do with the author,” he said. “The author agreed to my suggestions and he expressed his wish to include my suggestions in a new version of the play, not only for Great Britain, but for Germany and America and everywhere else.” Asked if there was a row over the play. Sir Laurence

Olivier said there was an argument He admitted the play had what he described as a difficult element but said it was worth while and c6uld be an “extremely important piece of work.” BERLIN PREMIERE Hochhuth, who is 35, plans to stage the world premiere of “The Soldiers” in West Berlin on October 9. The play has been cast and rehearsals, under Hans Schwikart, will begin in August The question pondered in the play is said to be how a civilised country like Britain decided to destroy a city like Dresden, which has no strategic importance and was also known for its art treasures. On February 13, 1945, more than 700 British Lancaster bombers dropped 650,000 incendiary bombs on Dresden at a time when the city was

crowded with refugees fleeing from the advancing Soviet armies. Tens of thousands died as Dresden crumbled into ashes. The following day, hundreds of American bombers dropped explosives on the still-burning city. In the play the British are said only to exemplify the many other nations who bombed cities and killed civilians. NO DISTINCTION Recently, Hochhuth explained that for him there was no distinction between a war hero and a war criminal. He said that he first planned Sir Winston Churchill only in a secondary role in the play, but during his work he felt “more and more fascinated by his personality which combined humanity with brutal warfare.” Hochhuth researched and worked on the new play for

four years. He studied documents in Britain and interviewed dozens of politicians, officers and ex-servicemen, including Wing Commander Maurice Smith, who was concerned in the Dresden raid. Smith is now editor of the aviation magazine “Flight."