Marlon Solomon’s one man show Conspiracy Theory: A Lizard’s
Tale is a compelling, and often darkly humorous, look into the world of
conspiracy theories. Solomon makes no secret of the fact that this show is a
deeply personal one for him. A non-practicing Jew from the age of eight – after
he took the Lord’s name in vain in the primary school playground and suffered
no ill effects convinced him that what he was being taught about his religion
didn’t count for anything – Solomon has become drawn into the world of
conspiracy theories and, by following the connections, realised that many of
them are linked to the ‘world’s oldest hatred’, Judaism.
The show begins with Solomon seated with his back to the
audience, watching a projection from his laptop of clips of conspiracy theory
videos. Once he is up and addressing the audience, Solomon comes across with
warmth and humour and aided by video clips and slides, like a politicised Dave
Gorman. After introducing himself, Solomon proceeded to explain how articles
shared by friends on Facebook in the aftermath of the attacks in Nice back in
2016 presented the attack as part of a conspiracy which, ultimately, led back
to the idea that Jewish people were behind the attack as a way of destabilising
the societies across the globe in order to dominate the world. While this is
clearly a ridiculous notion, it is one which lies at the heart of numerous
conspiracy theories and stems from one of the most notoriously anti-Semitic
books published (and second biggest-selling book in the world after the Bible)
called The Protocols of the Meetings of
the Learned Elders of Zion (originally published in 1919). The book claimed
to detail how Jewish leaders had met in Switzerland to formulate their plan for
world domination. It was translated into several languages and remains one of
the most widely distributed anti-Semitic texts ever. It also happens to be an
example of what we would now term ‘fake news’ (a concept with a modern name but
which has been around for centuries) having been exposed as a complete
fabrication. The falsity of the work, however, did not prevent people from
believing it to be true – both at the time of its publication (it stoked Adolf
Hitler’s hatred of Jewish people) and, worryingly, to this day. From this
starting point, Solomon takes the audience on a tour of anti-Semitism, Zionism
and anti-Zionism, and conspiracy theorists such as David Icke (whose infamous comments
about ‘Lizard people’ controlling the world informed the show’s subtitle) who
speaks at sell-out arena shows to audiences eager to hear how we are all being
controlled by what he terms ‘Rothschild Zionists’ – wealthy and influential
Jewish people who hold key positions in governments and institutions around the
world. In reality, Icke and his ilk are simply regurgitating the false claims
made in The Protocols… from nearly a
century ago.
While this description may make Conspiracy Theory: A
Lizard’s Tale sound like a dry lecture, it is nothing of the sort. While it is
informative and educational, it is also playful with some good humour running
through it. Solomon himself comes out with some witty one-liners and the show
features songs made up of Facebook and Twitter comments by users who believe
the anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and video clips. In one, Solomon plays a
hairdresser who comes out with an anti-Semitic comment while cutting the hair
of the onstage Solomon (by virtue of nicely timed pauses between the onstage
and recorded Solomon and a clever positioning of a chair in front of the
projector screen) and in another, an actor plays Sigmund Freud while Solomon
explains how the controversial ‘William Shakespeare’s plays were actually written
by Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford’ theory came about as
way for Freud to back up an assertion made in his influential 1921 work ‘The
Interpretation of Dreams’ about how Hamlet is driven by the Oedipal complex.
Be in no doubt, the issue at the heart of the show – why do we believe conspiracy theories? –
could not have come at a more pressing time. In an era of the ‘post-truth’
political culture where truth is on the defensive and rational arguments seem
to be declining in the face of emotional driven statements (of which conspiracy
theories are a key form), Solomon is on a mission to drive truth back onto the
offensive. While this mission is difficult, thanks in no small part to social
media allowing conspiracy theories to spread like wildfire, and sees
anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories being driven from the ideas of the
far-Right into discussions on the far-Left, the mere fact that he has gone to
the lengths of writing and performing this show should be applauded. That he
makes it entertaining and informative into the bargain should be saluted. This
is a vital, intelligent show which deserves a wider audience.
Reviewer - Andrew Marsden
on – 26/07/18
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