Staging the Holocaust

This book considers Holocaust plays 'in performance' and the legitimacy of presenting the Holocaust on the stage.

This book describes and analyses theatre productions performed in Israel, America, Poland, France, Italy and Germany which deal with the Holocaust. It traces the development of realistic/documentary stagings through to controversial avant-garde shows. It provides many rare drawings and documents, as well as an important descriptive bibliography.'To portray the Holocaust, one has to create a work of art', says Claude Lanzmann, the director of Shoah. However, can the Holocaust be turned into theatre? Is it possible to portray on stage events that, by their monstrosity, defy human comprehension? These are the questions addressed by the playwrights and the scholars featured in this book. Their essays present and analyse plays performed in Israel, America, France, Italy, Poland and, of course, Germany. The style of presentation ranges from docudramas to avant-garde performances, from realistic impersonation of historical figures to provocative and nightmarish spectacles. The book is illustrated with original production photographs and some rare drawings and documents; it also contains an important descriptive bibliography of more than two hundred Holocaust plays.