Line of Escape

Posted by Rinke Brans

In better times you make way to freedom, in less fortunate times you cut the way for survival. In any case, it is worth learning and walking your line. 

For this performance our partners researched Budapest memories of World War II with 10 young people through the personal memories of 5 storytellers. In the framework of the site-specific performance entitled ‘Line of Escape’, they invite the audience to a site-specific theatrical memory interpretation in the neighbourhood of Pozsonyi Road, the area of the former ‘international ghetto’.

Clover Fields

Posted by Maite

The year 2025; 80 years since the end of the war. The young generation asks: what does it mean for us? Witnesses are remembering, young artists are listening and creating. What is created when the past meets its future? Come and explore the boundaries of memory, art and identity.

Photo by Tomáš Král.

It Was Somehow, It Will Be Somehow 

Posted by Maite

Italians are loud and passionate, Germans are cold and precise, Brits are conservative and snobbish – and Slovaks are hospitable and…? Do we have unjustified prejudices about our own history, or is every stereotype a reflection of some deeper truth? A group of young actors experiments, performs, and seeks to uncover the essence of Slovak identity. Does it have roots in the past, or are we continuously creating it here and now?

This performance looks at these questions with the theatre group Štyria z paiteho ročníka  (meaning Four from the Fifth Year). The group formed in a simple yet meaningful way: they graduated last year and decided to continue their studies in musical and dramatic arts at the conservatory this year. During their search for a theme, form, and content for the upcoming school year, this topic unexpectedly presented itself. Yet, they don’t believe in coincidences.

I STAND STILL and (get) move(d)

Posted by Maite

In this performance the ACADEMY is looking at stories of women and girls during the Second World War who were imprisoned in Ravensbrück, the largest women’s concentration camp in Germany. Inspired by this search, they will create a performance for January 27. Based on a trip to Ravensbrück, workshops, and encounters that they hosted in November 2024, the performance I STAND STILL and (get) move(d) will combine dance, literature, visual art, and performing art.

More information on this performance coming soon.

Darkened

Posted by Maite

Darkened is a stage adaptations of 5 witnesses’ accounts from the time of war and occupation in Denmark. Illustrated reflections on the dilemmas of war. Surrender or fight. Stand up for your values ​​or hide. Resist, take up arms or wait silently in the dark.

Photo by Peter Blæsild.

‘HOPE’ HOTEL

Posted by Maite

The Carceri Nuove (New Prisons) in Turin were occupied by the Germans after 8 September 1943, along with other focal points in the city. The ‘German wing’, acted as housing for political prisoners, partisans, Jews, and often civilians arrested in reprisal. From here they were left to face two destinies: execution or deportation. In the block where Le Nuove Prison stands, until 1943 there was a small hotel: the Albergo Speranza, destroyed during the bombing.

Imagine a traveller walking through the fog one winter night holding a note with the address of the ‘Hope’ Hotel…Who gave it to him? What will he find?

Gathering the stories of that time, the producers of this performance ask themselves what remains when even the Speranza is bombed, and they went in search of the ‘bright spot’ moments, experiences, and encounters that shine and allow us to shine even when everything around is dark.

Photo by Antonio Bertusi.

Our Unforgettable Stories

Posted by Maite

During the last two months, a group of young people with the facilitation of trainers from STOP-KLATKA met elderly people, survivors from the Second World War, and their relatives. In the stories, youngsters searched for their “living questions”. What are the situations in the past that can happen nowadays as well? Where do we see oppression in our life? What is our responsibility in those situations?

More information on this performance coming soon.

Design by Karolina Sienkowska.

Theatre of Memory

Posted by Maite

Inspired by conversations with older residents of their city, the kids group of Teatr Brama creates a performance about the second world war, the relocation of Polish people in the Pomeranian region and the childhood in the after-war town of Goleniów.

Photo by Norbert Wojtysiak
Photo by Norbert Wojtysiak.

Behind The Façade

Posted by Maite

Behind The Façade is a performance that tells the stories of the people who stayed at Camp Westerbork during World War II. From 1942 to 1945, the transit camp on the Drentse heath was the departure point for more than 107,000 Jews, Sinti and Roma who were deported from here to death camps in the East. Only 5,000 were able to recount this.


Camp Westerbork was special because of the ‘make-believe reality’ that was created there; although the camp’s residents appeared to be able to continue a normal life in some respects, life there was also marked by fear and the uncertainty of the approaching transport. Amid this smoke screen, music sounded. Behind The Façade reflects on this duality and revives some of the stories of Westerbork. 
 
Following the previous Theatre after Dam performances, It’s Our Boys and Free and Fixed, this year Garage TDI’s pre-training department is working with a larger group of young actors and in collaboration with the Noord Nederlands Orkest (NNO) as part of Theatre of Remembrance. The performance is the result of an intensive research process, during which the makers carefully studied the stories of the camp residents together with the players. This collaboration between young theatre makers and professional musicians brings some of the stories of the victims and the events in the camp to life on the historic site itself.

Photo by DAYS.

Like Underwater

Posted by Maite

What thought or question starts the feeling that something is wrong? At what moment do you turn this thought into action? In this performance, we will explore what resistance is, how small it can stay, or how big it can grow, and what happens when you only watch? 

They will talk to to survivors about Amsterdam women who were part of the resistance during the Second World War. What kind of community and combined forces were used to keep a child safe at this time? This performance looks at the position of women during that time; what their limitations were, and also how women were able to take advantage of the fact that they were often underestimated because of their gender.

Through this performance the National Holocaust Museum will explore these topics and ask; What courage or fear may lie within ourselves to feel when something is not right and to say or do something when necessary?

Photo by Hilde Harshagen.