The End of the Night

On Thursday this week, mrs maytrees and I went with youngest sister to the Park Theatre Finsbury Park, to watch the play  The End of the Night by Ben Brown. The play had not been particularly well reviewed in The Times newspaper  but I could only conclude that the reviewer there was concerned that the production was not sufficiently 'woke'  for her taste. The three of us thought that the play was terrific holding our attention as it did, throughout.

The play I believe was based on a true account of a secret meeting arranged during the final few months of WWII, between Himmler, the Nazi leader who was Hitler's right hand man, and Norbert Masur, who was a Jewish man from Sweden. 

The meeting was set up by Felix Kersten, who was the masseur to Himmler. The meeting took place in Kersten's house in a part of Germany  to which he had persuaded Himmler to grant neutral status,  so that the meeting could take place in safety. 

We had not previously been to the ParkTheatre which is near to Finsbury Park

Much to my surprise the theatre was full with few if any spare seats. 

Michael Lumsden, who played Felix Kersten was as already indicated, Himmler's masseur. He managed to persuade Himmler both to cause the house  in which Kersten lived, to become a neutral territory and then to attend a meeting there with Jewish Norbert Masur  from Sweden.

Himmler, who was brilliantly played by Richard Clothier was with great

difficulty, eventually persuaded by Norbert Masur, to allow some 2,000 women Jewish prisoners of war to travel to Sweden, although  Masur, played by Ben Caplin, had endeavoured unsuccessfully, to secure some 20,000 or more men and women Jewish prisoners to be allowed to escape.

Such was the state of the war at that time, that the 2,000 women could not fly direct to Sweden as had been hoped. Nonetheless they managed to secure a flight to Denmark thence overland to Sweden.  In the event, the escape of the 2,000 essentially became like a breach in a dam, as several thousand more were  then able to travel out.

Olivia Bernstone who played a young Jeanne Bommezian, had to make a long soliloquy which she did wonderfully well. Audrey Palmer was the maid who also managed to secure a permit to travel with Kersten her employer, to Sweden.

Later, the British captured Himmler but he then committed suicide and so could not be tried for his hideous war crimes.

Despite the rather gloomy sounding plot, the play was fascinating and held the attention of us all, throughout.