CURRENT
DVD - New Release: January 2020
THE CHILDREN OF THE DEAD CITY
A music drama against forgetting
THE CHILDREN OF THE DEAD CITY
A music drama against forgetting
Screen Land Film recording of the Papageno Theatre production,
under the patronage and with a prologue by IRIS BERBEN
under the patronage and with a prologue by IRIS BERBEN
There are of course plenty of productions that broach the subject of the Nazi era.
Unlike many, however, "The Children of the Dead City" lends itself particularly to a younger audience.
Unlike many, however, "The Children of the Dead City" lends itself particularly to a younger audience.
The 'music drama against forgetting’ (as per the subtitle) - by Dr. Sarah Kass (idea), Thomas Auerswald (lyrics) and Lars Hesse (music) - tells of conditions in the Theresienstadt ghetto in 1944 – based on true events.
It is about the trapped children and adolescents who, in addition to state labour service, hunger and loneliness, try to achieve a sense of "normal" everyday life.
Meanwhile, composer Hans Krása receives an SS order to rehearse and perform a children's opera to trick an International Red Cross delegation into believing that the Jewish ghetto residents were "doing well".
Almost all the detainees involved, including the film crew which recorded the children's opera "Brundibár" for a Nazi propaganda film, were murdered shortly after in Auschwitz.
It is about the trapped children and adolescents who, in addition to state labour service, hunger and loneliness, try to achieve a sense of "normal" everyday life.
Meanwhile, composer Hans Krása receives an SS order to rehearse and perform a children's opera to trick an International Red Cross delegation into believing that the Jewish ghetto residents were "doing well".
Almost all the detainees involved, including the film crew which recorded the children's opera "Brundibár" for a Nazi propaganda film, were murdered shortly after in Auschwitz.
The play "The Children of the Dead City" is dedicated to their memory.
Covering such a difficult theme via the medium of music (a mixture of rock, pop, musical, classical and traditional Jewish klezmer music) and writing it for the theatre is something which has not been done before to reach adolescents in particular.
Covering such a difficult theme via the medium of music (a mixture of rock, pop, musical, classical and traditional Jewish klezmer music) and writing it for the theatre is something which has not been done before to reach adolescents in particular.
In April 2019, the stage premiere took place at the Papageno Music Theatre in Frankfurt.
The production by Hans-Dieter and Niklas Maienschein was supported by a cast comprised of 90% child and youth performers, and received a great deal of publicity due to the deeply haunting performance of its young actors.
The production by Hans-Dieter and Niklas Maienschein was supported by a cast comprised of 90% child and youth performers, and received a great deal of publicity due to the deeply haunting performance of its young actors.
Screen Land Film recorded the Papageno production.
Actress Iris Berben has taken on the patronage of the project.
The theatrical recording has been released - to coincide with significant remembrance days in 2020:
the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp and the end of the Second World War.
The theatrical recording has been released - to coincide with significant remembrance days in 2020:
the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp and the end of the Second World War.