''Taken At Midnight'' is a 2014 play by Mark Hayhurst on the life of Hans Litten, his cross-examination of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

in court in 1931 and his mother's attempts to secure his release after his arrest by the Nazis in 1933. Hayhurst also produced a television drama on the same topic in 2011, entitled ''

The Man Who Crossed Hitler ''The Man Who Crossed Hitler'' is a 2011 BBC film set in Berlin in the summer of 1931, dramatising the true story in which a lawyer, Hans Litten, subpoenaed Adolf Hitler as a witness in the trial of some Nazi thugs. Hitler has formally renounce ...

''. ''Taken At Midnight'' is Hayhurst's theatre debut.

Production History

It premiered in the Minerva Theatre at the

Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Mart ...

from 2 October 2014 (previews from 26 September) to 1 November 2014, directed by

Jonathan Church Jonathan Church, CBE (born 1967), is a British stage director. Church was the artistic director of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre (2001–2005) and Chichester Festival Theatre (2006–2016). In August 2015, Sydney Theatre Company announced ...

and starring

Penelope Wilton Dame Penelope Alice Wilton (born 3 June 1946), styled Penelope, Lady Holm between 1998 and 2001, is an English actress. She is known for starring opposite Richard Briers in the BBC sitcom ''Ever Decreasing Circles'' (1984–1989); playing H ...

. It transferred to the

Theatre Royal Haymarket The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foot ...

in London, opening on 26 January 2015 (previews from 15 January) until 14 March 2015.

Characters and original cast

Hayhurst, Mark (2014) ''Taken At Midnight'', London: Bloomsbury, p.2. Hans Litten - Martin Hutson
Irmgard Litten -

Carl von Ossietzky Carl von Ossietzky (; 3 October 1889 – 4 May 1938) was a German journalist and pacifist. He was the recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in exposing the clandestine German re-armament. As editor-in-chief of the magazine ''Die ...

- Mike Grady

Erich Mühsam Erich Mühsam (6 April 1878 – 10 July 1934) was a German-Jewish antimilitarist anarchist essayist, poet and playwright. He emerged at the end of World War I as one of the leading agitators for a federated Bavarian Soviet Republic, for which h ...

- Pip Donaghy
Dr. Conrad - John Light
Fritz Litten -

Allan Corduner Allan Corduner (; born 2 April 1950) is a British actor. Born in Stockholm to a German mother and a Russo-Finnish father, Corduner grew up in a secular Jewish home in London. After earning a BA (Hons) in English and Drama at Bristol Univer ...

Gustav Hammerman - Marc Antolin
Lord Clifford Allen - David Yelland
SA Officer - Dermot McLaughlin
Hotelier - Christopher Hogben
Hitler's Voice -

Roger Allam Roger William Allam (born 26 October 1953) is a British actor, who has performed on stage, in film, on television and radio. He played Inspector Javert in the original London production of the stage musical '' Les Misérables'', First Officer ...

Other parts were played by members of the company.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20140810162059/http://www.cft.org.uk/takenatmidnight Fiction set in 1931 Fiction set in 1933 2014 plays Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler Plays about Nazi Germany {{2010s-play-stub