Benghazi Bergen-Belsen

Benghazi Bergen-Belsen is an original play inspired by a novel of the same name. Tracing the story of the holocaust of the Jews of Libya, the play gives voice to a larger cultural narrative that is absent from stories of the Jewish Holocaust. By citing the marginalized racial politics of the Holocaust, the show urges a reconsidering of both historical and contemporary religious, cultural and racial oppression and violence. Set in 1945, Benghazi Bergen-Belsen is narrated in the voice of Silvana Hajaj, an ambitious young Jewish feminist from Benghazi, Libya. Silvana and her family are uprooted from their home and sent to the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen in Germany. Here, Silvana meets a young Dutch Jew, Rebecca Reis. The play tracks their encounter, which is layered with cultural and sexual tensions. Silvana and Rebecca are held in a shack in the concentration camp after being caught stealing water. In this confined space, they must decide which one shall be executed within the hour. As time runs out, Silvana is focused on the burning question of who is to live. But Rebecca has a different wish—she insists that Silvana tell her a story. Silvana painfully recounts the story of her and her family’s journey from Benghazi, on the coast of Libya, to the capital, Tripoli, and from there by boat to Italy, and eventually Germany. Tensions between Silvana and Rebecca culminate in a compelling experience. The frame of the show is this hour, in which they must make a decision.