Ganesh Versus the Third Reich

Well this truly is, at times, an astonishing piece of work. Bobbing atop gushing rivers of praise, Australian outfit Back to Back Theatre’s long-gestated project is not easily forgotten. The form and convention, which often override the epic fantasy narrative, is based on the simple act of asking a difficult question.

For a mostly disabled, or supposedly “intellectually disabled” group of actors, the conundrums come fast: do they have the requisite faculties to comprehend the fate of a Holocaust victim, for example, or to empathise with Hitler, or to even begin to place their performance within the context of a world war? Does anyone? Who is the real architect of Ganesh… and does it even matter?

Back to Back’s ‘performance’, the rehearsal and casting of which is played out onstage, follows the Hindu deity Lord Ganesh. He is charged with descending to the mortal realm to reclaim the bastardised swastika emblem alongside an orphaned Jew and under the menacing glare of the “White Angel”, Dr Josef Mengele.

By trying to fathom their own limitations as artists, the company force the audience into some steely self-examination which peaks when we’re accused, albeit in the abstract, of flocking to gawp at “freak porn”; we laugh as one actor’s mind is compared to a goldfish’s, yet recoil as the able-bodied director physically attacks a vulnerable cast member.

Amongst all the hand-wringing, though, what emerges is a challenging and striking piece, visually, comically, cerebrally. When they're done, it takes an endearingly shambolic curtain call to remind you just what a startling theatrical accomplishment this is.