White Rose | Marylebone Theatre

When well handled, the biggest global conflicts can make for stunning theatre. We only have to look as far as Miss Saigon or Operation Mincemeat, each in very contrasting, but similarly tasteful manners, depict various events from major wars from the past 100 years. White Rose is the latest in such a vein, bringing to life the tragic, brutal nature of the Second World War, telling the story of the famous German anti-Hitler resistance movement of the same name.

Our main focus is on real life siblings Sophie and Hans Scholl, whom together formulate the idea for the “flugblütterweissenrose”, or white rose leaflets, which are used to help open the eyes of Germans all over the country to the evil Nazi propaganda machine that ravaged Europe during the early 1940s. Aided by friends Willi and Christoph, as well as university professor Kurt, they successfully launch this series of printed texts from the balcony of the university of Munich, helping spread the word, but at a great personal cost, as was often the case with any political dissidents in Nazi Germany.

And we’ve seen how well this kind of narrative lends itself to good, edgy, strikingly profound theatre over the years. However, you just get the feeling that this show is playing it safe, not pushing the brutality of the regime, nor the rebellious nature of revolution or resistance. This is most notably reflected in the score which, rather than reflecting either side of the divide with any great integrity, feels rather like it falls into a halfway house between the two, and it never really feels like it know exactly what kind of tone it’s going for, especially in the first act. There’s a distinct lack of imagination or sparkle to the music or lyrics, in spite of the execution of this being rather good.

It definitely hits its stride more after the interval, as we are treated to some massively stirring musical numbers, with the rousing anthem “Pride and Shame” a particular highlight in a fairly forgettable song list. There are a few stunning solo numbers, and though not the most memorable songs, the performances by those singing them were top drawer. Charley Robbie’s rendition of “The Stars” had everyone transfixed, and Tobias Turley performing “They’re Here” was the most emotionally charged of the evening.

Collette Guitart was the pick of the day though. She is a terrific talent and there’s a real steadfastness and gumption about her portrayal of Sophie. As an audience member, you feel for her, you believe in her fight, and want her to succeed even knowing how it ends for her. Additionally, we get a wonderfully layered performance by Ollie Wray as Frederick, brilliantly conveying the internal turmoil and conflict suffered by a figure too scared to turn his back on the third reich, yet too morally adept to fully embrace Nazi brutality.

Individual vocal performances, though occasionally a wee bit pitchy, are generally pretty strong. However, it’s the ensemble vocals that really stand out with this cast, as each voice really compliments the next very well, and the full chorus moments had hairs standing on end. Despite a host of good performances though, we don’t really get a particularly potent climax or finale; with any piece of art that depicts such cataclysmic historical enormity, you expect to be shocked at least once or twice, and there was a flurry of missed opportunities by director Will Nunziata to really highlight this.

The final number was beautifully written and performed, but there was a sense of “was that it?” once we’d reached the end. White Rose is, in concept, a tragically beautiful story to tell and sadly the way in which it’s told by Belding and Brice didn’t do a great deal to sell it to us, playing it safe instead of really pushing the extremes inferred by the original story. It was engaging enough in and of itself, and set, costumes and lighting by Justin Williams, Jean Gray and Alex Musgrave respectively were all magnificent. However, it never really goes far enough to accentuate the unbridled fear or horror of what so many went through during this dark chapter in our history.

White Rose plays at Marylebone Theatre until 13th April.

Tickets and More Information

★★☆☆☆ (2*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Marc Brenner